Yesterday the news that none of wanted to hear was broadcast. A community case of the delta variant was discovered. The poor person involved, a Devonport man in his 50s had done everything right. He was described as a compulsive scanner and had gone for the test when he was unwell. His responsible actions have meant that the contract tracing has quickly provided places of interest.
This morning four further cases were announced. It is early days and I don’t know if the evidence backs the assertion but the source case may have been a nurse working at Auckland Hospital. The nurse had been fully vaccinated. This just goes to show how tricky the virus is.
The Government responded swiftly and shut the country down. Auckland and Coromandel, where the Devonport man had visited, are locked down for 7 days. The rest of the country is locked down for three days.
The response is in stark contrast to New South Wales where Premier Gladys Berejiklian has overseen a dumpster fire of a response. A delay in acting and lax lock down requirements have resulted in the number of new cases spiking to over 400 a day. And Berejiklian is now talking about living with the virus which is an interesting choice of words given that the virus has killed so many people.
It gives me hope that this outbreak can be managed. Time will tell.
Political leadership is important and leadership failures are easily shown up. Like Thames-Coromandel District Mayor and former National MP Sandra Goudie who publicly admitted that she does not scan where she goes.
From Radio New Zealand:
A Thames-Coromandel civic leader says news of a Covid-19 community case and snap lockdown are shocking, but will probably not make her scan the tracing Covid-19 QR codes more often.
Thames-Coromandel District Mayor Sandra Goudie told Checkpoint she would not normally scan in when visiting locations.
She added the Covid-19 community case will “probably not” push her to scan more either. “It’s very hit and miss for me,” she said.
“I’m quite a believer in my credit card tracking everywhere I’ve been.
“It’s not a habit I’ve got into.”
Not scanning to own the libs. How National.
I can’t say that I am surprised. There is another issue where the scientific advice is extraordinarily strong but which she does not accept. Dear Reader Sandra is a climate change denier and has refused to support a LGNZ proposed declaration that we are facing a crisis because the movement was politically charged and driven.
From Kate Gudsell at Radio New Zealand:
A push to get local authorities to sign up to a declaration on climate change is “politically charged and driven”, the Thames-Coromandel mayor says.
Fifty-five councils have signed up to the Local Government Leaders’ Climate Change Declaration. It states there is an urgent need to address the threats of climate change.
It states councils will commit to plans to reduce greenhouse gases, promote walking, public transport, increase resource efficiency, and commit to renewable energy and electric vehicles.
Yesterday members of the public presented to the Thames Coromandel District Council meeting, urging it to sign up to the declaration. It will be voted on by councillors at a later meeting.
However, mayor Sandra Goudie said she did not support it and most other councillors were cautious.
It would be irresponsible for the declaration to be signed because the council did not know what it would be committing ratepayers to, she said.
“It’s got statements which bind you to outcomes that you’ve got no idea of, so I wouldn’t sign a contract without knowing specifications.”
She was also asked if she believed that climate change was happening.
Mrs Goudie refused to confirm whether she believed climate change was happening, saying she did not have an obligation to tell ratepayers what her opinion was.
Mrs Goudie said she was not obliged to reveal her stance on climate change because “I think it’s incredibly highly politically charged and driven and I don’t think that makes for a good basis for sound judgment”.
Goudie claims that her Council is being proactive in terms of coastal protection and resilience. This is the Council that granted consent to a retirement village and then put a coastal hazard inundation notation on the title warning that the village was in a potential coastal flood zone.
It is important at these times that our central and local government leaders provide responsible leadership and role models. Goudie is not doing this.
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