National unveils its MIQ, pandemic response policies
• Vaccination centres at universities with consideration of “cash or voucher incentives”, churches, outside nightclubs.
• Establishing a rangatahi advisory group to reach young Māori, going door-to-door in high-risk communities, and commissioning behavioural scientists to suss out the best incentives to lift coverage.
• Order Pfizer booster shots immediately, and mandate vaccinating healthcare workers.
• Mandatory daily saliva testing for border workers, those in MIQ, and workers in public hospitals. Ubiquitous rapid antigen testing by the middle of next year.
• Establishing a new pandemic agency Te Korowai Kōkiri, based in Manukau, and build purpose-built quarantine facilities near Auckland airport to open in early 2022.
• Fast-track building new hospital wards to increase bed capacity.
This whole thing is one big hot mess.
Firstly it admits that National would use level 4 lockdowns which is a joke because all Judith has been crowing about is how the Government can’t use level 4 lockdowns.
Secondly National intend to use this at a mere 70% vaccination rate. At 80% we get 7000 deaths and 60000 hospitalizations, I’ve got no idea if anyone has modeled 70% but my guess would be 10000 deaths?
If we look at the actual list, the Government is already doing most of these.
One area of righteous anger is over the lack of saliva testing, the Government should get its arse kicked over that.
In terms of a specially built MIQ facility, I’m in favour of this but the naked reality is that a 1500 room facility would take at least 2 years to build and I’m not sure how that gets Kiwis home for this Christmas.
This is a poorly thought out grab bag of ideas that feed people’s impatience but none of their actual safety.
As for David Seymour…
…At this point it’s hard to distinguish David from Bishop Brian & Billy TK.
The only solutions ACT and National are actually suggesting here is ‘let the market decide’ – if the people of New Zealand are so stupid as to vote for these fucking right wing morons, we deserve the carnage that follows.
Here is the truth about our response...
New Zealand’s response to the Delta outbreak was indeed swift and severe as it gunned for total elimination of the virus.
Researchers looking across a range of countries and their different responses found those that pursued elimination rather than mitigation have not only had fewer deaths, but also better protection from economic fallout and over the span of the pandemic, less impact on the civil liberties of their people.
They found elimination-seeking countries like New Zealand, Australia, Iceland, Japan and South Korea have had around 25 times fewer Covid deaths than other OECD countries that went for ‘living with the virus’.
And across the OECD, economic growth is in the red – bar the five countries that chose elimination, for each of whom GDP growth had returned to pre-pandemic levels in early 2021.
Freedoms were also most severely impacted by countries who chose mitigation, as eschewing swift lockdown measures early on has often mean having tighter and longer lockdowns later on.
…I am confident that the majority of this nation see sense and see Jacinda’s leadership for the outstanding achievement that it is.
Yes I’m sick of lockdown. Yes it’s frustrating and infuriating and I’ve almost forgotten what eating out is like! Weed dealers should be essential services and I haven’t been laid since lockdown!
In short, IM FUCKING OVER IT!
But, I will not allow my cocktail of seething resentment and pent up anger sway me to what ACT or National are selling! I’m proud we have a Government that puts people before money and this crisis will pass!
Stay the course comrades, stay the course!
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“Weed dealers should be essential services and I haven’t been laid since lockdown!”
Imagine the amount of movement and contact over Auckland’s lockdown that could have so easily been prevented had we legalized weed and allowed online sale and contactless delivery for those with 18+ ID.
More meditation and marijuana is the answer
If meditation and marijuana are the answer, it must have been a really stupid question. LOLs. And calm down, I think 0% THC CBD pills should be sold in Countdown next to the fish oil and for a similar price. And low THC (<10%) vape juice should be sold in specialist vape shops for recreational and medicinal use.
Should have used the covid tracker Judith. But no, Bluetooth!
It was right there. Instant CC messaging, vaccination centres for those who show up after receiving an appointment message, and mobile vaccinations for resistant people or what not, the insensitive being, access.
PHOTO CAPTION JK
Why do I feel so sad?!!
PHOTO CAPTION J COLLINS:
I really should have become a nun.
Im happy in our NZ ” smug hermit kingdom” thank you John Key and Judith Collins.As one RNZ listener said ” hey John its the people, the people ,the people ,not the money ,the money ,the money.Last weeks polls showed over 70% of kiwis still in favour of lockdowns and elimination if possible .If delta is too tricky to contain every week see’s more people vaccinated while covid numbers are relatively low.Ireland has already reached 90 % vax rate.It can be done .
However even at 90% we will have 1/2 million unvacinated adults and 1 million unvacinated children under 12 yrs.The writing is on the wall for the health system in the new year in terms of being overloaded .Both for the vacine hesitant who ” have a constitutional Right to be stupid ” and those vacinated who will almost certainly miss out on normal medical and surgical procedures as covid overwhelms our resources .
Daily self administered Saliva tests to suburbs of interest may work to identify covid cases fast enough to weed people out and get in front of the virus before they can spread it . You could test a whole suburb in 1 day.
In the absence of this its not looking good.
In terms of getting the vax or not ,someone said to me once ” If you sleep on the railroad tracks don’t moan if the train runs you over .”
Lmfao! Being in a corona hot spot should trigger mandatory vaccination appointments so these people can jump the que using a “mobile vaccination program.”
To be honest, Judith sounds like she’s never set foot in MIQ.
On Saliva testing, I know a few that have had them and the benefits seem overcooked. You need a certain type of spit and a descent volume and most struggle to supply the correct amount and type so the time taken is a lot longer than a quick brain biopsy. Combined with taking the same time to process it seems pointless.
Hopefully Chris Bishop will be on RNZ in the morning saying how long the 1500 room facility will. take to build, what it will cost, how it will be run.
And while Bishop is at it he needs to say how our public health systems will cope with outbreaks when it couldn’t cope before Covid as his party ran it down and under funded it and many other public sectors like schools etc.
National’s plan shadows a lot of what Labour is already planning or doing, just with some dates moved forward and thresholds lowered. Labour say 90+%, National say 85-90%. Labour say first quarter of 2022, National say before Christmas. Labour says lockdowns as a last resort, National says… the same. It’s Bishop as usual, making predicted proprosals ahead of a government announcement just to claim ownership for it happening at all. Some ideas address real criticisms of the governments response, like saliva testing and making use of needed migrant labour already based here in NZ. Others reeks of promises you only make in opposition. A dedicated MIQ facility in Auckland, that will start functioning early 2022 and be future-proofed against yet unknown variants that could leak out and shut down… Auckland! When National wanted MIQ moved out of Auckland’s CBD, who thought that they meant as far/close as South Auckland, the predominant zone of Auckland outbreaks.
Whereas National plays a strategy of trying to be half a step ahead of Labour, ACT plays to a more volatile crowd. The recent lockdown has seen a large surge in the vaccine rollout, and there will be a growing part of the country becoming double-vaxed and impatient with having to wait on those who aren’t. ACT will tolerate the personal choice of those who opt out, but know that every government initiative to get to the hard to reach communities will be announced by the media with the words “Maori and Pasifika”. How pissed-off will people get when they lined up for the vaccine as dutiful citizens, only to be withheld the promises of freedom when others need to be bribed to do the same?
Really who cares what act and nats say cause saying is one thing and doing is another as they can’t deliver in opposition its just pure shit stirring and driving a wedge in our team of five million.
“Then there’s ICU capacity.
Deputy leader Shane Reti highlighted how ICU wards have struggled to cope with the number of cases in this outbreak.
So how would National build ICU capacity by Christmas to deal with endemic Covid-19?
Collins: “I’ve been in senior ministerial roles before. I know exactly what can happen. If you really need to, you can make it happen … We can always bring in those nurses and doctors who are so desperate to get into New Zealand to work here.”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/derek-cheng-nationals-reopening-plan-includes-a-massive-dose-of-wishful-thinking/I5IRYORGZKRJO6L6BTG6EJBNGQ/
So, Collins has been in senior ministerial roles before and knows exactly what can happen? “If you really need to, you can make it happen.” Like a housing shortage? Not letting it happen and dealing with it if did happen? And provision of decent health resources can happen now? How about 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016?
Spot on Peter.
More bullshit from National who appear to be riding on the current governments hard work on eliminating Covid and the team of five millions sacrifices. And as for them saying everyone will be able to come home for Christmas how can they possibly deliver when they are in opposition. And bringing hundreds of more Nurses and others will also put more pressure on our housing and failing infrastructure. National are using more divide and conquer tactics. National need to name their source (Epidemiologists working for our government) and these people need to show some spine and come out and speak with the evidence to back their model.
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