Six weeks into the lockdown and things are delicately poised. The lockdown is holding the virus but it has not gone away. We are doing better than New South Wales and Victoria but a more gradual increase in numbers is not a desirable outcome.
Vaccinations are everything. There is a proposal for all leaders of each political party to jointly urge kiwis to get vaccinated. I think this proposal has some merit as long as all of the leaders could be trusted to behave themselves.
There has been some disappointing public undermining of the lockdown. Yesterday’s Destiny Church gathering was appalling. I hope the police throw the book at him.
David Farrier has described him and his ilk as grifters and it is impossible to disagree. Clicking into overseas conspiracy theories for attention and followers is clearly part of the business model.
Just as damaging and just as irresponsible is today’s Herald column by Heather Du Plessis-Allan.
She claims Auckland feels like an angry city. Maybe in the rich area she lives in, rich people tend to be more interested in personal lifestyle than collective good. Just check out John Key’s rants over the past week if you need proof of this.
She is also angry about that the Auckland boundary to remain but how crazy is this? She really needs to check her motivation for her comment. The rest of the country is, hopefully, Covid free. Why should the virus be allowed to propagate throughout the rest of the country just so that she and her friends can go to their Coromandel holiday homes?
She also is angry about the “lack of a plan” and because we don’t know when this will end.
National and Act have served up the delicious proposition that people will be able to come home for Christmas. For a selfish simpleton this is attractive. For a Government committed to following scientific advice and doing what they can to keep us protected this is ludicrous.
She praises New South Wales because it has a plan. Yes it does but it involves digging lots of graves and hoping the health system does not fall over. And its performance is not something to aspire to.
She also misrepresents the situation. The Government has a detailed plan which clearly she has not read. Despite complaints to the contrary the intention is clear. Head for 90% vaccination coverage and we will have lots of options. Make it 95% and we will have even more. Setting a goal of 80% is completely irresponsible as is having a hard goal at this stage. We still do not understand what the spread of the virus will look like even at enhanced levels of vaccination. And we still do not have a full appreciation of what the effects of long Covid are.
Heather is angry that the Government is using lockdowns and appear to have no other option. Why don’t they have a magic wand an just make it go away?
For those chipping at the vaccination roll out on Friday there were 47,512 doses administered. Yesterday New Zealand has the fourth highest daily vaccination rates per head of population in the OECD. For first doses we are now 41st in the world.
Maori vaccination rates are still very poor. Last week when Chis Hipkins was asked he confirmed that not only overall vaccination rates are important but also vaccination rates among different sectors of the population. We cannot open up if important sections of our community will be adversely affected.
I am sorry if this is too sophisticated for Heather. But we are in the middle of a global pandemic that has brought most western nations to their knees and we do not want to be in the same situation.
Demanding a simplistic randomly selected number as a measure of success and allowing you to take overseas holidays is not going to work. And being angry that the Goverment is stopping the spread of Covid to other parts of the country is selfish in the extreme.
The lockdown level is due to be reviewed tomorrow. I for one am prepared for level 3 to continue. Just to be sure.
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