I would say 95% of kiwis would agree. They would not swap it for any of the approaches undertaken by UK/US/Europe. The overwhelming sense is of being lucky.
But zero covid was not about keeping it out forever. It was about buying time to be prepared, get vaccinated , time to learn from other countries, learn from their mistakes. NZ is now in a heavy suppression phase. We nearly eliminated delta without lockdowns, however we now have omicron and it looks like covid will finally hit us hard. Hopefully with minimal deaths.
I generally feel the government could not have handled the situation any better.
China though I fear has no exit strategy given evidence seems to be thier vaccine is far worse tham MRNA vaccines.
Completely agree. I shared a graph I put together a week or two ago that really highlights all the months of unnecessary deaths in the UK due to being so open when we were in a point in the pandemic where there was absolutely nothing available to protect us. Months and months of an abysmal case to fatality ratio and now all the nations that protected their citizens are able to open up with comparatively minimal risk.
Myself and all the Conservative supporters on here can argue until we are blue in the face that the UK couldn’t have been in the same position as Australia or NZ or Singapore or Japan or South Korea but these are all (at least effectively) island nations so they share some similarities. All with extremely high food security (UK is higher on the list that Australia) so it could have been done if the government wanted to and if it was committed to it, but the UK really wasn’t committed to anything other than vote share.
We’ve decided we’re going to start getting out and doing stuff. We’ll keep taking precautions, like wearing masks, but not of us have the appetite for another year of self-denial.
I think we’re going to have to live with Covid for the foreseeable future.
I think the Tory party will largely bluff this out with most people thinking they have done decent job. Mostly thanks to their supplicant media lackies. Which is heartbreaking, because (rough estimate) had they hadn’t been incompetent, corrupt and disinterested in their handling of the pandemic thousands of people that are now dead would still be alive.
While I accept that it is not happening anymore, I still think that it is the best approach. Australia could (and should) have kept Delta and Omicron out with its geographic advantages and existing - ridiculous - ‘border force’. But as expected the federal LNP government prioritised large business over the rest of the community.
We (my wife and 3 boys under 7) have been isolating - as in not leaving our home/garden except to visit an arboretum a couple of times and cycle around our neighbourhood - since the start of December when we started to have community transmission in Adelaide. We will hold our eldest back from the start of the school year and our younger twins will miss pre-school until they are all fully vaccinated - Australia has only allowed vaccination for those aged 5-12 since 10 January - which will be in middle of March. If cases spike again due to school resumptions we may even delay this further.
We recognise we are in a very privileged position - neither of us need to attend a workplace and we have a spacious home and large garden with lots of indoor and outdoor entertainment options - but even still it is not without its challenges and they are all really looking forward to a return to normalcy. However there is enough uncertainty about the frequency and impact of longer term impacts for us to decide it’s currently worth making this sacrifice.
At this stage, I think Omicron is just too contagious. I still think it is going to collapse, simply from infecting everyone it possibly can to some degree. I find it hard to believe at this point that I have not already been exposed. So I don’t think the zero covid strategy is an end-game, but at the same time I don’t think it was a mistake.
This one is key. I completely understand the cost and logistics and the hit on normal healthcare vaccination programmes like this must have, and so I am really hoping that we can reach a point where a yearly booster will be enough.
For that we need data to show that with a combination of previous infection plus vaccine that we hold all the necessary defences in our body for at least 12 months.
I was shouted down by the Political blueshite for having that view.
Demonstrating control of our borders before leaving the EU would have been a big own goal. So they happily threw 1000’s on the fire.
That kind of feels like a minimum acceptable to me. I suspect if we end up in that situation it’ll be a longer road. Apathy and the nut jobs will result in a declining uptake I feel.
Fullarton (Inner South East). We’ve only been here a couple of years - and haven’t got up north much - but we’ve really liked the ‘country town’ feel of Adelaide so far. Enough to do while still still quiet and easy to access everything which allows for a very relaxed life. Coming from Canberra we really love the older bluestone architecture and we were lucky enough to get one with beautiful old elm and jacaranda trees. I do miss crisp Canberra winters and easy access to the snow and perhaps Adelaide is a little more conservative and insular due to its history but access to the beach and the hills at least partially makes up for this and our family have been very happy (pandemic aside) so far.
There are a couple of recently subdivided blocks around us but most happened long enough ago that it looks like it was always thus (to our newcomers eyes anyway). Apparently our home was used as a plant nursery in the first half of 20 century until it was subdivided by council. Unlike Canberra with its almost uniform block sizes within streets, the more organic hodgepodge of Adelaide feels much more like a real city.
Whereabouts are you now? How long ago was rAdelaide?
they’ve completely given up on trying to track Covid here now. No more PCR testing unless you’re immunocompromised or hospital staff or work at a care home. if you show up at a testing site, they send you back home with an antigen test and a phone number/website to report a positive test. So our numbers will be completely unreliable at this point. We all know antigen tests are pretty much useless for false negatives. So it appears that the government is letting it run its course.
the Canadian trucker’s “Freedom Convoy” to protest forced vaccinations and idiotic restrictions is hitting Ottawa today… Apparently Trudope is hiding out somewhere with a covid exposure. the leader of the Opposition O’Toole is meeting with the delegation from what I understand. I hope this is the final nail in the Liberal coffin, they have been the worst leadership in this country since Brian Mulroney and his selling off of the nation’s assets (plus signing the original NAFTA).
But at this point…Although I think I’ve had it twice, I’ve never had a positive test so should look good on an insurance disclaimer form… Hopefully I can start crossing the border again soon.