Oh look at that – the exact thing I said would undermine Jacinda happened – why health reforms are needed now

By
Martyn Bradbury
-
45
1602

Folks you can either read it here first on TDB or see it break in the news media a week later.

TDB warned last week that the only thing that could cripple Jacinda’s incredible polling numbers was a screw up by Wellington health bureaucrats at the border allowing the plague to slip back into NZ.

I argued that NZers feel like they have genuinely sacrificed something during lockdown, and while grateful to Jacinda, would turn on her if Wellington health bureaucratic incompetence outraged Kiwis.

Well, well, well, what do we have here then…

Covid 19 coronavirus: Two new cases, Jacinda Ardern admits check system ‘failure’

- Sponsor Promotion -

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has admitted health officials’ protocols failed to meet expectations after two new Covid-19 cases were revealed today.

In a Facebook Live post this evening, she said standards had not been met.

“This case is clear – our expectations … have not been met in this instance,” she said.

“The two cases that came in from overseas that were announced today were not announced under the circumstances that we would have expected at our border.”

..let’s get this completely straight, Wellington bureaucrats allowed two woman to breach quarantine early, without getting tested despite one of them showing symptoms???

Unbelievable. The truth is that we were saved from a full blown pandemic by two things, Jacinda’s leadership to go hard and go early combined with pure dumb luck.

The grim reality is that our Public Health system has been so downgraded and underfunded that it simply doesn’t have its shit together to protect us from a threat like this. In Australia  and Europe where there are strong unions, they have a public health system that can fight back, here we have an under funded public health system that barely responds to the challenge.

Remember how our health officials failed with the measles epidemic? Why did we think they would save us now?

Our public health system is such an underfunded nightmare that if the plague gets lose here we are fucked, so that makes the border our only protection.

The reforms being planned for health can’t come soon enough, but until those reforms kick in, we are in deep trouble if the virus gets in here.

Between now and September 19th, Jacinda should have her border and health staff on the tightest, shortest leash imaginable because if Wellington health bureaucratic incompetence causes infection, her Government will get blamed.

The surprise Labour supporters are making online over the backlash to this Covid case is ignoring the power of the sense of sacrifice NZers feel they gave for this lockdown. The focus surely shouldn’t be defending bureaucrat incompetence but demanding it isn’t happening now.

Increasingly having independent opinion in a mainstream media environment which mostly echo one another has become more important than ever, so if you value having an independent voice going into this pandemic and 2020 election – please donate here.

If you can’t contribute but want to help, please always feel free to share our blogs on social media.

45 COMMENTS

  1. I have serious issues with boards appointed on merit. If National wins an election, it stops being merit, and starts being nepotism. Could you imagine Jonathon Coleman as a director of a board?

    • On the other hand, incompetent fools with money (NZ is riddled with them) could and did buy their way onto DHBs. That’s one reason why everything is such a mess.

  2. So the government got it right regarding allowing people to visit dying loved ones on compassion grounds. When they said no visits, National and ACT attacked them. Seems the Government was right all along. Will National or ACT be held to account for politicizing the pandemic?

  3. Incompetent or corrupt, or both? This is what systemic failure looks like. The patient is very, very sick..

  4. No Pacific flying with no outbreak of Covid, but Air New Zealand will resume passenger flights between Auckland and Shanghai from June 22, despite a new outbreak of Covid-19 in that country.

    It comes on the same day as news that New Zealand’s first two cases of Covid-19 in 24 days were travellers from the UK.

    China has been grappling with a new coronavirus outbreak in the capital Beijing.

    Money for some of the worst corporates who just made huge amounts of their staff redundant and stealing refunds from their customers, more important than NZ lives it seems….

  5. Yes, the TBD has had a good predictive strike rate lately–after becoming a little too McCartenesque and over thinking it in earlier years perhaps as in the last “Key Election”, but never mind, that was then and this is now.

    No tediously long posts need be written on this. Keep that border stitched up tight till the election! And long after that as far as some of us are concerned.

  6. Was there an intended special dispensation for this situation that should not have been included in the plan? Or did someone not follow the plan? I haven’t been able to get this clear from reading and listening.
    If someone in the system failed to follow instructions I don’t see that Jacinda could have done much about it. If the system in place allowed for taking the risk in special circumstances then it would seem to be Bloomberg’ slip up with the system.
    D J S

    • A plan is only good if you have the capacity to delivery it, in our case we don’t. (it seems) Now if we don’t have the capacity we should taihoa. The Government knew our hospitals wouldn’t have coped with a fully fledged covid outbreak so why are we looking at increasing our quarantine capacity when we can’t even cope with the current rate. We need to pull back the reins back as someones incompetence has now made it harder for us to give exemptions on compassionate grounds. We need to fix it first before we consider reintroducing exemptions and expanding our quarantine numbers. And if people want to come here they can pay for it and if they don’t want to obey by the rules they can bugger off it’s as simple as that

      • The statement around hospital capacity to cope is undervalued and the reason for going hard and going early. The severity of the mistake to let the two women leave early for compassionate leave was monumental. To politicise this with lies by Woodhouse should require at the very least cast iron proof or Woodhouses resignation.

    • David Stone: “Was there an intended special dispensation for this situation that should not have been included in the plan? ”

      We hear on the bush telegraph that these women are connected either to a Cabinet member, or to someone high up in Labour. Well: that figures, doesn’t it….

  7. Should not be stopping people being able to vote for their boards and end democracy in the community! The rot is in the non elected positions who are making the bad decisions and the system itself…

  8. I imagine those involved who let these two infected women go forth into the community face no consequences for their sheer incompetence.

    And I have to wonder if immediate dismissal that should be a no brainier would be too generous.

    At least the cries the reopen the borders especially from National and Newstalk ZB stars should be dead now.

  9. We at CEAC warned Government on 20th January to be cautious with the Covid 19 flare when China had the problems.
    https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO2001/S00041/ceac-calls-for-ministry-of-health-to-be-cautious.htm

    Then we warned; as World Health Organoisation did; this Test test test !!!!!
    https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO2005/S00047/ceac-who-said-test-test-test-not-fly-blind-fighting-covid-19.htm

    later we waned Ministry of health to test,test, test but they never took that advice either then or even now, and the ministry of Health is to blame for this all not Jacinda.
    https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE2004/S00220/ceac-govt-must-increase-mass-testing-for-all-citizens-now.htm
    Testing should be now placed on the URGENT LIST TO TEST EVERYONE WITH TWO DIFFERENT TYPES OF TESTING AS WE ADVISED THEM THREE TIMES BUT THEY NOW HAVE TO DO THIS NOW.
    Testing For All Citizens Now
    Tuesday, 28 April 2020, 7:10 am
    Press Release: Citizens Environmental Advocacy Centre
    NZ Ministry of Health do not have adequate data yet to understand the nature of who has been exposed to Covid 19 and recovered; and must incorporate with the current ‘swab test’- the antibody test (also called a serology test.) which confirm all who develop immunity to Covid 19.

    WHY?
    We need to know who has actually developed immunity to the virus.
    We do not have these tools at present in the test protocol
    NZ Ministry of health is using only the nasal or throat swab test, which can ‘migrate’ from the nasal or throat in a few days we are being advised.
    The current ‘nasal throat Swab’ coronavirus test look for the virus’ genetic material in a sample of mucus, which is usually collected by a nasal or throat swab administered by a health care worker. and only diagnose a current infection.
    Whereas the antibody test (also called a serology test) finds who develops immunity to Covid 19.
    It signifies that the person has been exposed to the virus long enough that their immune system has been responding to it- which is the real gold standard now being used.
    Coronavirus Testing
    More Information
    “Before the coronavirus started spreading in communities, there was just one type of test to detect an infection; – the coronavirus test look for the virus’ genetic material in a sample of mucus, which is usually collected by a nasal or throat swab administered by a health care worker.

    What is this coronavirus antibody test?

    Unlike other tests on the market, the antibody test (also called a serology test) does not diagnose a current infection. “It signifies that the person has been exposed to the virus long enough that their immune system has been responding to it,” Stenzel says.

    It’s important to remember: Many people who are infected with the coronavirus do not experience symptoms. And knowing whether someone has been infected but wasn’t sick can also pinpoint people who may be in the clear to return to normalcy.

    People who have already had the virus are “probably not going to be a danger to other people,” Stenzel explains. Scientists are still working to better understand if and how the virus mutates, but Stenzel says the thought is that those who have “been exposed to coronavirus and have developed immunity and have completely recovered, hopefully won’t get it again.”

    Public health experts are also looking to serology tests to paint a more complete picture of how the virus spreads and to better understand its fatality ratio. The CDC is developing its own serology test for this reason”. Unquote.

    The following report here confirms that the current NZ Ministry of Health nasal throat swab test can be false negative in several ways.

    Proof is below; “A ‘negative’ coronavirus test result doesn’t always mean you aren’t infected”

    This was found reported in China during their pandemic, and they resorted to ‘lung Xray’s’ to confirm that the patient was seriously ill after so many confusing false negative swab results were repeatedly found occurring there, as reported here.

    And this also shows how false Swab testing is.

    “A test developed by the researchers was able to detect 2019-nCoV in oral swab samples. But samples taken about 10 days later did not have a positive result.”

    CEAC are on the record here
    CEAC have several times requested for “NZ Ministry of Health to be cautious” now more so with the virus testing protocols beginning on 20th January 2020, as reported here.

    Details of calls for action:

    CEAC calls for Ministry of Health to be cautious
    Monday, 20 January 2020, 2:31 am
    Press Release: Citizens Environmental Advocacy Centre

    Monday 20th January 2020
    CEAC calls for Ministry of Health to be cautious of mystery viral pneumonia spreading from China.

    For our public health and safety:

    CEAC is calling on Gov’t -Ministry of Health to carry out the following;
    NZ Ministry of Health do not have adequate data yet to understand the nature of who has been exposed to Covid 19 and recovered.
    Ministry of Health must incorporate with the current ‘swab test’- “the antibody test (also called a serology test.) which confirm all who develop immunity to Covid 19.
    To save citizens lives and avoid false negative throat nasal swab tests.
    ‘If you even have a sniffle or the slightest sore throat’ get tested for Covid-19, PM urges
    Conduct full Covid 19 testing of all our citizens firstly and complete a full assessment of solid controlled ‘tracing of the Covid 19’.
    We must have mass testing of all our community firstly to have a solid ‘robust tracing process’ to fight Covid 19.

  10. The proposed reforms arent as game changing as everyone makes them out to be.
    The report hasnt recommended scrapping or reducing co-payments as they dont see that making any difference in health outcomes, nor do they suggest increasing public provision of health services (in other words, leaving them outsourced).

    At least there will be no dissapointment when the government backtracks, like it did with the schools report.

  11. Re: Is this more political than medical?

    Kiwis should ignore this flu threat as our health professionals have; go mountain biking as David Clarke did, or go kayaking as bricklayer of the year Lance O’Sullivan did. The other alternative is to imprison seniors and have some guy go on the telly every day to maintain the threat and tell us how bad life is. Witching hour.

  12. Maybe if we treat any system failures at the border by those in charge and who let the virus in should be treated as an act of treason and dealt to accordingly
    And those who are let in under quarantine and do not adhere to imposed isolation policy and then end up Covid positive should be charged with gbh

  13. Ha Ha –
    thanks Countryboy – for putting a smile on my elderly face and a hearty laugh to accompany it; so thank you very much for warming my day on the anniversary of my wife and me 44th wedding day.
    Countryboy said;
    “I have neck wings that swing about and I know, when my beautiful female human looks up at me when we have sexy times, does she see me as a piece of creaking old rusty corrugated iron flapping in the wind?
    Fuck this growing old gracefully bull shit. I want to be snipped, clipped and injected until I look like a varnished pork sausage thanks”.

  15. Are these two women NZers just because they had a parent living here doesn’t mean they are i thought i would ask this has it hasn’t been mentioned and i wonder why.

    • On the radio today and in a question in parliament it seems they might have got lost on the way from Auckland to Wellington. … I don’t think they are New Zealanders.
      D J S

  16. Whoever made the call to release these two people early should be down the road. In the end if the minions can’t obey the rules they should go, I am bloody angry about this.

    District health boards are a complete crock. In Canterbury we have Jamie Gough on the health board well he is the little upstart who is also on the council, but didn’t stand for the mayoralty last year because he has two young kids… then he announced standing for the council and the health board what a crock!

    We all know that if we are serious about voting on the boards we look at the little bio. What do we really know about these people. I would vote for peple that said we don’t get enough government funding, especially in mental health. We had earthquakes floods and then the appalling mosque shooting (is anyone at the cop shop going to be held to account for allowing that guy to have all of those guns, I” bet not) all of this has stretched us.

    I voted for people who work as doctors and nurses, people who will know what is wrong with the system.

Comments are closed.