NZ is back lockdown

LBV - August 17, 2021

Yesterday (Tuesday) there was 1 positive community case of Covid. The government announced a Level 4 Lockdown from Midnight. 3 days for the entire country, and 7 days for Auckland and the Coromandel. Apparently there was a run on supermarkets and hardware stores – food and diy. 

The lockdown requires only essential stores stay open. Mandatory mask use on public transport and in stores.

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Good morning LBV,

Hope you’re faring well during this.

Am guessing Air New Zealand will get an extended coffee/tea break. Travel bubble plans are on hold.

 

Staying out of politics, I do admire New Zealand’s aggressive attack against covid. And it seems to be working well for you all. Do you see many people there murmur and complain about these lockdowns or is the majority on the same page of doing whatever it takes to stop it from spreading?

 

There were a few protestors in three locations. At the two larger protests (approx 70 at each) the leaders were arrested and the crowd dispersed. The smaller one (approx 20) was outside a police station. They were told “go home or be arrested” so they went home. One of the leaders was a well known Q Anon conspiracy nut. He was a leader of a political party that pandered to conspiracy nuts – he didn’t get voted in and most people do not think highly if him.

I think that most people are accepting of the lockdown. I think that this one is a little scarier due to what we have been seeing over in Australia and that it is affecting and killing younger people. There are long lines at testing stations. As of day two of the lockdown we gave gone to 21 community cases. They are expecting it to grow due to the large number of locations (expecting approx 120 cases).

By and large NZers are not yet vaccinated. We got our vaccines later than other countries, however as other countries had so many cases, that is understandable. We are having vaccinations rolled out in 4 waves. The first was for border workers and those working at quarantine facilities. Group 2 is front line healthcare workers and those who are in or work at residential facilities, Group 3 include those over 65 years, who are pregnant or have a disability (including obese, high blood pressure or mental illness) or in custody. Group 4 is  divided into age groups. Currently anyone over 40 is eligible.

According to reports 34% of those eligible have had their first vaccination, and 20% are fully vaccinated. They just announced that the vaccination booking hotline has had their busiest day yesterday. I think that in general NZers have been rather blase or vaccine hesitant about getting vaccinated. I think that this has been a huge wake up call for them.

My second vaccination was due on the first day of lockdown so was cancelled. I rebooked and will be getting it next week.

Politically NZ is quite left leaning compared to the US.

 

There were a few protestors in three locations. At the two larger protests (approx 70 at each) the leaders were arrested and the crowd dispersed. The smaller one (approx 20) was outside a police station. They were told “go home or be arrested” so they went home. One of the leaders was a well known Q Anon conspiracy nut. He was a leader of a political party that pandered to conspiracy nuts – he didn’t get voted in and most people do not think highly if him.

I think that most people are accepting of the lockdown. I think that this one is a little scarier due to what we have been seeing over in Australia and that it is affecting and killing younger people. There are long lines at testing stations. As of day two of the lockdown we gave gone to 21 community cases. They are expecting it to grow due to the large number of locations (expecting approx 120 cases).

By and large NZers are not yet vaccinated. We got our vaccines later than other countries, however as other countries had so many cases, that is understandable. We are having vaccinations rolled out in 4 waves. The first was for border workers and those working at quarantine facilities. Group 2 is front line healthcare workers and those who are in or work at residential facilities, Group 3 include those over 65 years, who are pregnant or have a disability (including obese, high blood pressure or mental illness) or in custody. Group 4 is divided into age groups. Currently anyone over 40 is eligible.

According to reports 34% of those eligible have had their first vaccination, and 20% are fully vaccinated. They just announced that the vaccination booking hotline has had their busiest day yesterday. I think that in general NZers have been rather blase or vaccine hesitant about getting vaccinated. Part of that has probably been the fact that we have not seen directly what has been happening overseas. Since our initial lockdown when COVID first hit, we have not directly been affected. We have no real risk up until now. We have had concerts and other events without worry. I think that this has been a huge wake up call for them.

My second vaccination was due on the first day of lockdown so was cancelled. I rebooked and will be getting it next week.

Politically NZ is quite left leaning compared to the US.

 

There is a comment over on the latest News Roundup that I thought would fit well here so I screenshotted it:

MikeNZ makes a good point how the rest of the world is stressed and living a horror story, while the occasional lockdown of NZ it allowing them to live normal lives.