Two Days Ago New Zealand's PM Was Bragging

God, I hate that smug PM. Of course, New Zealand is going to have few cases of COVID-19. It's a damned island far away from most other countries.

It’s karma for them pretending their “success” was due to anything other than being a small set of islands in the middle of nowhere.

The next Sweden.

China is New Zealand's biggest trading partner. The size of NZ is irrelevant: they have always had a disproportionately high number of flights going from China to New Zealand. Given their proximity and contact, the PM is entitled to brag a bit.

It will be interesting to hear how this family got it.

Why no link?

What panic?

This was how this approach was going to go. It wasn't going to be 'we're clear, forever'. We're not clear until there's a vaccine that artificially manages a herd immunity much sooner than naturally. We aren't eradicating the virus any time soon, and we're only learning of treatments.

There are the three general approaches: let it rush through (ranging from national denial, to just very light slow/shutdowns), clamp down entirely (which most Western govts are actually NOT doing), or periodic shutdowns (with which good timing would mean a minimum of disruption). NZ is the last one, and they were not NEVER going to take measures again. USA is also the last one, its just failing hard at it because there is no coherent national strategy.

The third strategy is potentially worse than the first - depending on many factors - because theoretically allowing the most people (trying to exclude the most vulnerable) be infected ASAP would also encourage immunity and adaptation sooner in months and years than otherwise. Its a maximum death up-front, but a more relaxed treatment afterwards. If it works. If it doesn't, you have Spanish Flu 2.0. While doing starts and shutdowns can be the best treatment that inconveniences people and slows down an economy but otherwise keeps deaths and destruction at a very low level, if it isn't done appropriately, you're just causing flareups of infection that inevitably reach the vulnerable (if you're failing at shutdowns, you're obviously going to fail at protecting people) and cause overall deaths to rise or skyrocket.

New Zealand will most likely be fine. Only incredible international pressure will change their course, and their course is still on the road of 'successful mitigation'. Be more worried about USA which seems set to become a worldwide embarrassment for doing everything wrong - despite state leadership attempts - and prolonging everything bad about a pandemic. Its the only nation that really risks millions of deaths, because its unwilling to do shutdowns and isolation properly, while also trying to put on a show of seemingly doing so. It doesn't have the clout of an overtly authoritarian govt that can let a virus run through it and pretend there's nothing wrong. Americans can learn something's wrong. They can learn when numbers suspiciously plummet, or when emerg is full of respiratory patients.

[quote] God, I hate that smug PM.

She hates you too, you bitter bitch.

I'm curious how the virus popped up again? How is this possible? Foreign travel? Brought in from Australia?

It came from somewhere. NZ cannot shut itself off from the world.

She’s light years better than trump or anyone else at the top of the heap in the US you hideous brainwashed mongoloids

South Auckland is the worst possible place for this — multigenerational households are common; obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease are rampant; and there are heaps of essential workers who are living hand to mouth and are therefore loathe to stay home from work.

In this case there are seven people living in the same house. The man in his fifties had a cough and fever five days before he was tested and both he and his partner had been going to work all along. The infected toddler is not believed to have had contact with anyone outside the household but there's no word on the fourth positive.

While no one in the family had travelled or had any known contact with anyone at a managed-isolation hotel or in quarantine at the Jet Park, the latter is in South Auckland as are the most of the isolation hotels. One infected hotel worker living in a cramped house with parents, grandparents, siblings and their children could spread it far and wide.

Auckland was already a mess with scheduled road closures and now everyone is in a panic and trying to get in one last shop before the toilet paper runs out.

Ardern is such a fucking idiot. She might be even worse than Trudeau. Only ignorant jerkoff American still think they're progressive heroes.

Let this be a warning, Cuomo.

R8 It was likely still in circulation despite no one having tested positive for it in over 100 days. According to several studies, somewhere between 40 and 60% of people who contract COVID remain either completely asymptomatic or their symptoms are so mild that they might mistake it for a simple cold. Interestingly, however, very recent studies are finding evidence that people who remain asymptomatic still appear to experience some form of lung damage that may or may not resolve over time.

So, it's likely people were infected but were asymptomatic. Given that NZ ended virtually all restrictions, it was only a matter of time before people started to get really sick from it again.

NZ has done so well for a variety of reasons. 1) it has more solid leadership. The PM took COVID very seriously and shut the country down despite very few cases and kept it closed longer than most of Europe and North America. 2) NZ has a central government, so any decision made by the government applies to the whole country. Unlike America, Canada, Australia, UK, which have State, Provincial, or other regional governments, federal law doesn't apply to the whole country. 3) NZ has a small population and less density. 4) Because it's an island, it's straightforward to close its borders.

Isn't this why their succesful, because they don't fuck around unlike Chump. They are right to brag

[quote]News of the cases sent panic across the country with media reporting people rushing to supermarkets to stack up, and businesses preparing to shut.

That's the most alarming part.

R16 Happening in Australia too which is again shutting down.

R8 And I find this hard to believe, but according to a caller on overnight radio - a woman travelled from Melbourne to NZ possibly just before Stage 4, and someone on the plane tested positive. Didn’t realise that international travel to NZ was possible, although she was apparently a NZ citizen and had to go into isolation anyway.

R1 What does being “an island” - it’s not, it’s a collection of islands, btw - have to do with anything? Do you think that people still travel by sailing ship?

People call Ardern and Kiwis smug about their containment until now but the key difference with other countries which have - ahem - been less successful is that the population is not a bunch of selfish fuckers blustering on about their right to not wear a mask or their need to gather in crowded spaces.

It’s nothing to do with population size - look at the numbers per head of population. That’s where the key messages are to be found.

R17 Most of Victoria has shut down in Stage 4 which sucks. We can’t go further than 5km or go out for more than an hour and we have a bloody curfew. And it’s fucking winter.

Link?

Obviously it was Australia's fault.

[quote]Didn’t realise that international travel to NZ was possible, although she was apparently a NZ citizen and had to go into isolation anyway.

It's only open to citizens and permanent residents and it entails 14 days of managed isolation at a hotel, with testing on days 3 and 12. A positive test gets you moved to the quarantine hotel. I've been in CA since January and have cancelled two flights to go back because the thought of spending 13 hours on plane right now makes my skin crawl.

It’s unbecoming of a leader of a country to brag about their “success” while so many millions of people are suffering. “We” didn’t fuck up, Trump did. Show some compassion, bitch.

How about a state, R24? That's okay, right?

[quote]God, I hate that smug PM. Of course, New Zealand is going to have few cases of COVID-19. It's a damned island far away from most other countries.

Come on, Donald...

Now Hawaii. I guess islands aren't so safe after all.

Here's an update cobbled together from various sources:

The first case, the man in his fifties, works the night shift at a cold store in Mt. Wellington and apparently there’s regular travel to and from the airport as well as the company’s other locations in Auckland. According to One News, three coworkers are showing symptoms and are awaiting test results. Chris Hipkins confirmed that there are symptomatic coworkers but declined to say how many.

His wife works at a finance company in a central suburb but was tested at a GP's office in West Auckland, which has now been shut down. Between the two them, there are now 300 people being treated as workplace close contacts.

A symptomatic 20-year-old family member (I’m guessing she’s #4?) was visiting family in Rotorua on Saturday and went to a few tourist attractions along with either one or two symptomatic children, which is where it becomes confusing. According to early reporting there was one infected preschool-aged child; later it became a student at the now-closed Mt. Albert Primary School. Maybe there is a second infected child, bringing the number to five, whose status hasn’t been officially confirmed?

In any case, Rotorua tourist attractions on a Saturday... Eek!

[quote]“We” didn’t fuck up, Trump did.

You fucked up expressing your right to do any number of things that put yourselves above the community. Trump fucked up in his way, Americans fucked upon their own. Take some responsibility.

It's so uniquely American to react with anger and criticism... your country in on fire with this thing but there seems to be some comfort in spewing pathetic garbage like "Two Days Ago New Zealand's PM Was Bragging."

Jacinda Arden was politically brave out of the gate on a huge and risky scale - she shut down fast and hard. She transcended politics and just showed leadership. She is free to take credit for her success. That success means this limited outbreak will probably be contained easily.

Is it so bad in America that dumping on her and New Zealand makes you feel better? It is that bad and hopeless that howling in the dark is all you can do?

It's be your turn to crow, R30 when the virus return to NYC.

.............

We've added one more confirmed case at Mt. Albert Primary and four probable, awaiting results. Epidemiologists are saying there are probably dozens more undetected cases and community transmission has been going on for weeks.

And, as expected, our own Deplorables are making scenes because their basic human right of having an employee bag their groceries has been taken away. My heart bleeds for them.