Given the success of the Covid-19 elimination strategy and New Zealand’s subsequent Covid ride, she, her Government and this country can be thankful this policy was pursued and thankful our geographic isolation made it possible.
Level 4 was indeed “hard”, and subsequent policy on managed isolation has been firm. The practice proved somewhat different, as the “dissonance” between what the Government and Ministry of Health was saying first on actual Covid testing of MIQ residents and then on boarder-worker testing was revealed.
The Government also stubbornly refused to see the value of both mask-wearing and quick saliva testing, as an adjunct to the more reliable nasal probe. Several preventable holes in the system were only plugged after, not before, MIQ failures.
It also took too long to set up an effective contact-tracing system. The Government’s responses to the Auckland outbreaks were mixed, and we should all remain on tenterhooks for at least the next four to six months as we await community-wide vaccination.
The Wellington scare of the past week, when an infected visitor from Australia splurged on central city attractions, provided another test. Once again, the Ministry of Health was sluggish.
Where was the capacity and will to work through the night after the alarm was raised? Too many people were put at risk unnecessarily the following morning.
Where was the surge capacity to immediately set up testing stations? Testing was overwhelmed on day one. The people of Wellington had largely lost interest by the time several stations had been established.
It seems likely, too, that the current Level 2 would have been insufficient if the infected Australian had been a “spreader”. Sydney tried partial measures against the Delta variant before being forced to institute a lockdown.
New Zealand’s luck appears to have held this time. But good fortune is fickle. The Government has been cautious on bubbles with Australia and Rarotonga and reasonably quick to “pause” connections after Australian outbreaks. It, however, has been soft and late vaccinating all border workers and took many months to institute risk-based quarantining for arrivals.
It has also been soft and late on QR-code use and masks.
That is not entirely its fault. New Zealanders have been slack and complacent. Even mask use on buses, belatedly introduced under level 1, has deteriorated. QR code scanning rates are appalling. The number would be about 10 million a day if New Zealanders were using them properly. This rose to just two million at the height of the pandemic and has fallen to 400,000.
Experts for months have explained the Delta variant prompts new challenges, and sensible and considered advice on masks goes back more than a year.
The Government has been stuck in 2020 response mode. Finally, Ms Ardern announced this week that Cabinet has commissioned advice on mandatory scanning for high-risk locations and compulsory mask-wearing at Level 2 and above for such locations where social distancing was difficult.
There are various issues including enforcement, challenges for those without capable phones and complications for the hospitality industry. But compulsory mask-wearing, as well as scanning, takes place in other parts of the world, and in more prescriptive ways than those proposed. Surely, with a bit more of a compulsory push, we can do much better.
Perhaps as we learn about rampant Covid in Fiji and the community cases scattered around Australia, New Zealanders might be spurred to do better at protecting themselves, not relying so much on the Government. Why, though, did Cabinet need to commission advice on upgraded protections? Surely, the changes could have been assessed weeks if not months ago.
It and the Health Ministry have known about the dangers of the Delta variant for months.
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We have been extremely lucky. However, the government did manage to curtail the trade at all costs cries of business leaders who were seemed to think the health of the economy was solely dependent on across borders trade and that the health systems of NZ and the health of citizens had no impact of economic health. For that noise, this government did manage hard of hearing and realisation the health within a nation was of tremendous benefit to citizens and health systems interest and did have a major benefical impact our economy.
Yes. Beware the grifters. Our healthy bodies have been able to combat this man made virus. New Zealand is the last destination on the highway of modernity. We are isolated by distance. Russia was saved from Napoleon through wide snowy expanses before Moscow. The wide seas have saved New Zealand, not Jacinda.
This Government have been very lucky and the pandemic could have easily exploded. Our boarders were pervious and our boarder workers (our first line of defense still have a huge percentage unvaccinated despite the lies this Government tells us. Why is NZ the second worst OECD country for vaccinations only behind Australia? There is no excuse for this failure.
The plane is coming into land lopsided with too much fuel in the right wing.
Praise to this govt and its leader that so many of us are still alive and most businesses thriving.
How about do an article on the success of America or Brazil or Aussie or Great Britain.
Na, put the knife into this successful govt instead.
How about write an editorial on how hard this govt has had to work to improve from the 9 years of neglect.
Talking about the Nats, how about printing what Chris Finlayson said this morning.
Covid was a gift from the gods for this Labour Government. They have been able to win an election without disclosing to the public the massive restructure of the country they are now implementing.
The Govt is still relying on luck, not planning, at the moment. When we get our community outbreak - unless we have a much higher percentage vaccinated - then expect as many deaths as elsewhere. The picture coming out of the UK is vaccinated = safe; non vaccinated = extremely ill/death. Hard to congratulate such inept planning, poor monitoring and spin doctoring.
Complete crap, vaccinated does not equal safe at all, https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/125589173/covid19-new-...,
Specifically the parts rewarding Britain as that was your reference.
Vaccinations does NOT prevent contracting or transmitting viruses , what it does do is train the immune systems response and reduce the chances of the worst effects. And if there is a mutation it can reduce the efficacy , ie 95% efficacy becomes around 60% with the delta v variant and so on .
Vaccinations definitely help but they aren't the silver bullet you make out. As for the response and planning you are free to go to a country that has had better results , if you can find one that's better off
Climate Change: Going Soft and Late!
This country has been a world leader in managing the pandemic crisis. Jacinda has shown that strong early decisive action, based on the best scientific advice and putting the health interests of the nation above short term economic priorites has resulted in lives saved and a world leading economic status. Yes we have been fortunate and yes we must not become complacent and now we and the rest of the world put our faith in science and wait for the vaccines to deliver us all from the threat of death and personal freedom restrictions.
The same can not be said for the climate and biodiversity crisis. For decades scientists have been warning us but their research has either been ignored or acknowledged with little action. Just last week a leaked UN report stated - “We need transformational change operating on processes and behaviours at all levels: individual, communities, business, institutions and governments,” it says. “We must redefine our way of life and consumption.”
Jacinda, world leaders, the ODT and other NZ media ignored it and continue to treat the crisis too soft and action is already too late. Trust the science and act now!
Lucky being the key word. All the government has to do on an island nation is close the border...PERIOD. there is no skill involved in that. Opening the border for a travel bubble is STUPID! Can't have it both ways peeps. You wanna be safe? Or you want to roll the dice with a travel bubble? I don't want to risk lockdowns and be forced to wear a mask just so we can get a few Australian tourist to Queenstown to ski.
I agree, and all the bleating being promoted by the media, from kiwis who went to Australia after being given due warnings of the possibility of being trapped there due to inevitable Covid outbreaks, are unbelievable! As if they couldn't have worked this reality out for themselves a year and a half after the outbreak of Covid - what rock have they been under so long?
Yup island nations have it easy. That's why places like the UK, Fiji, Australia, Japan, Taiwan etc are Covid free. Oh wait.......
This would have to be the poorest effort that I have seen from the ODT editor for a long time.
Luck has had little to do with NZ success in managing Covid 19.
Specifically your criticisms of sluggish or stubborn reactions and/or development and implementation of this that and the other are simply nonsense. They do not even have the benefit of being supported by hindsight. I have space for only one example: Masks. Initial scientific advice was that only infected people needed them. Science then changed its mind and said all should wear them so the Govt adopted the new advice. There was no stubbornness at all.
The facts are that the Govt selected the overall strategy that was right for NZ. They promulgated policies and procedures and set up the organizations to give effect to that strategy. They did this from nothing, This was all new ground being developed as they went along. When gaps occurred and tweeking was required they reacted quickly and strengthened procedures.
Whilst being an island nation undoubtedly helped our case there are plenty of other island nations who failed, in fact all of them did.
Our success is not down to luck. It is down to superb management.
The word I most hear from people when talking about the New Zealand COVID-19 situation is "lucky" rather than "management" or "leadership".
Lucking in that:
We are a distant nation with a water border.
A small distributed population
A health system better than Brazil, India and some other hard hit countries.
An extremely compliant population (sheeple) that a majority of do not question authority (this is a double edged sword).
Yes, luck is playing its part however, we make our own luck.
The key risk to all of us is that our already overwhelmed healthcare system gets inundated with community cases.
That is why we have to have an elimination strategy and a vaccination program that gets a very high proportion of the population jabbed as quickly as possible.
Unfortunately, we aren't lucky enough to have the latter being done.
Being second on any measure compared to Japan is usually a good thing, however not in this case.