So why prior to the latest community outbreak were they not testing all the staff at the border? There was no pressure on the testing regime when there was no community transmission. It is inexplicably incompetent. A monumental cockup.
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Getting no response on the other thread so I figured I would repeat it here.
Quote Originally Posted by jonu View Post
He's a person speaking his mind. A rare thing in the PC woke world in which Labour and the Greens exist.
moka, be so kind as to explain the exit strategy from NZ's level one and associated closed borders. I'd really love to know so that I can explain to my grandchildren why it is they are still paying of the debt in thirty years time. I don't recall Labour telling us when they committed to spending 150+ billion dollars.
From what I can tell it must be based on the gamble of a vaccine becoming available to the public within the next 12 months (backdated to April). How's that working out?
At what point do we abandon the closed borders and write of 150+ billion to experience?
No answer to this moka? Any Labourite care to enlighten me as to what the exit strategy is?
Crusher isn't going to let it in either so maybe they will have the same exit strategy?
I do wonder how long we can keep the current settings though.
It seems 'experts' think elimination is still the best strategy, depends on which experts you choose like for all other advice.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/hea...nz-experts-say
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/hea...l-stays-silent
Perfect summation of how dismally this government has failed to deliver post the previous lockdown:
"The Government had one job, to isolate the outbreak, but had failed."
“The Government set itself one job: test, trace and isolate the virus in three days. But it has failed, at a cost to all of us,” Seymour said.
“If the strategy was always for restrictions to last one incubation cycle of 14 days, the Government should have said so.”
Seymour earlier said the Government needed to have a plan to live with the virus, even if that meant tolerating small outbreaks. New Zealand should try and mimic Taiwan, which had managed to have low rates of death and infection without imposing severe lockdowns."
As a non-expert, I think elimination is the best strategy and if the current outbreak can be contained we can go back to elimination. And go back to life pretty much as normal except for lots of handwashing and kindness, and border controls.
So far all the cases have been linked to one cluster so it may be possible. As Michael Baker says the alternatives to elimination were undesirable for both health and economic reasons. And yes there are a range of experts with a variety of opinions, just pick one to confirm your bias.
We expect to move in and out of elimination for the foreseeable future, says epidemiologist Amanda Kvalsvig.
We know that elimination is possible because New Zealand eliminated community transmission before. The goal is to maintain zero community spread but this country will always be under threat from infections being introduced through the borders. No border-control system can be 100% fail-safe. But because we’re starting from a baseline of elimination, it should be feasible to extinguish each new outbreak using all the control measures we have at our disposal, including case and contact management, physical distancing and mass masking.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02402-5
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/pol...t-you-wish-for
Postponing the election? Careful what you wish for.
Should the Government postpone the election? No-one is going to take any notice of Judith Collins calling for a delay but that doesn’t mean it’s the wrong thing to do.
The more this election looks like a foregone conclusion, the less people will feel like voting. Democracy relies on participation and people believing their vote counts. More difficult voting processes could also act as a discouragement to voting.
Maybe Collins should be careful what she wishes for in delaying the election because the current climate could present it with a God-sent opportunity.
What was Gerry Brownlee playing at this week by insinuating the second outbreak and move to level 3 were part of some grand Government scheme? This is not gutter politics, it is nutter politics. As the former earthquake minister, he, of all people, should know how to ride this out with dignity.
Delaying the dissolution of Parliament and using the powers of the Chief Electoral Officer provide the mechanisms to postpone the election to a date suitable for the current circumstances. Let’s do it to ensure a healthy election