Covid Watch

The Prime Minister has got to stop telling falsehoods. And if she insists on doing it, the media have got to start calling her out. 
In the midst of her ”you get nothing Auckland, so suck that up” spin yesterday, she referred to our world leading response and our world leading economy. 
It's crap, it's not world leading. Just a week ago, the global monitor of rankings on Covid response dropped us from 1st to 38th. 
It did so for very good and obvious reasons. We are locked down, our economy is haemorrhaging, and there is no targeted end in sight. 
The upside of yesterday's announcement was the vaccine mandate for certain workers. Why they took so long, Lord only knows, apart from the fact they take an age to do anything. 
But that aside, given that the numbers aren't dropping, haven't dropped, and won't go to zero, then I just don’t know what it is they are looking for to change anything in Auckland, short of the vaccine. 
The vaccine is the answer, but that in itself is the next issue. How many people do we need to get jabbed to get free? No idea. Jacinda Ardern suggested 90 percent first jab. We are about to hit that, does that still count or not? 
They're having a vaccine day this weekend. What result are they looking for? Who would know? And if we don't know, when is the end? And if they hit a wall of resistance, then what? Who would know. 
How many people need to lose their jobs and how many businesses need to fold before they offer a light? If the vaccine is the light, when do we hit that light? Once again, who would know. 
What an abject failure this is now proving to be. Auckland stuck, the economy stuck, and as a result of Auckland, the rest of the country is stuck as well. Even beginning to call that a world leading response is an insult to anyone who is remotely adult and has a brain. 
Last week was a cluster with their picnic in the park charade and conflicting toileting advice.  
This week? Nothing. 
The numbers haven't really moved for weeks, up a bit, and down a bit. Just how long do you reckon they can pull this con off before it really implodes?

The only good thing to come out of yesterday is that I won a bet.  
My husband bet me that they’d loosen something or announce something yesterday.  
That they’d throw a bone, announce a target, unveil some details, open something up, name the Northland absconder, something, anything.  
He said there was no way they could just do nothing. There was no way they could keep locking us down at this level with no plan, no detail, no guide. 
I don’t know why he keeps over estimating this Government; I knew they’d do none of that. 
I knew they’d leave us languishing because 1) they’re out of touch, and 2) they don’t have a plan. 
What I didn’t bank on was how much high fiving they’d do of their own ability. 
This far into this much farce, how are they still claiming to be successful? To be world leading? Is there anyone out there still buying that crap? Seriously? How are they still milking these press conferences as an opportunity to gloat? It again shows, I guess, how out of touch they really are. 
Schools got a mention, but not a word on the South Island, and nothing on business. How is that even possible? 
How can do you keep delaying the reopening of businesses, with people’s livelihoods hanging in the balance? How can you be so devoid of any rhetoric around that? So disconnected from the productive side of the economy, the people who keep this country afloat? How can they be so cavalier with them? Where was Grant Robertson? How does the Finance Minister ignore business here? What message are you sending the business community when you continue to treat them like this? 
My heart breaks for them; we hear from business owners daily, they’re at their wits end and they seem to not even be on the Government’s radar. Is this Government too distracted by gangs and alleged sex workers? Are they more interested in protecting the lowest common denominators holding the rest of us to ransom? 
The other bizarre aspect of all this is how Wellington-centric the Government continues to be, in terms of not having a clue what it looks like on the ground in Auckland, or understanding there's a South Island still waiting for a plan too. 
The Government continuing to tell us from their cosy Level 2 Beehive theaterette that Level 3 is working well in Auckland, shows how Wellington-centric and out of touch they really are. 
Leaky border, rule breakers, not to mention the place is heaving. People crowded into parks and beaches, bursting bubbles like there’s no tomorrow, no distancing, some aren't even masked.  
They don't have a clue how this is going in Auckland, yet they want to keep applying the same approach hoping for a different result.  
Definition of insanity right there. 
What we needed yesterday was to hear two critical things; what’s the vaccination target for opening up? And what’s the date set to achieve it? But because basic planning and simple respect for voters is beyond this Government, we didn’t get either.

The Auckland Chamber of Commerce is concerned by what it calls a lack of care for businesses who are struggling.  
It wants guidance from the Government about no jab no job policies for employers.  
Chief Executive Michael Barnett told Mike Hosking business owners feel neglected by the Government.  
"Yesterday was the second week ina  row where there was nothing for business and there was no mention of business." 
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Signs of life for the entertaining industry in this country.  
Billie Eilish has added a second show in New Zealand as part of her tour next year because there was "overwhelming demand".   
The fear is that New Zealand gets left behind because of our stance on MIQ and the borders; but does seeing a big artist like Eilish compel others to look our way as well?  
Representative for Frontier touring and head of Eccles Entertainment Brent Eccles joined Mike Hosking. 
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Dr Ashley Bloomfield is pleading for people to follow the rules of ongoing lockdowns in Auckland, Northland and Waikato. 
Waikato and Northland will remain at Level Three until at least Thursday, while Auckland will remain under its current restrictions for at least another week. 
The Director-General of Health says officials are expecting to identify several locations of interest, after Police last night located the Northland case's travelling companion at a West Auckland address. 
He says many staff and patients of a new Covid-19 case at Auckland's Middlemore Hospital are also being identified. 
Bloomfield told Mike Hosking his message to people is simple. 
"We've got to maintain our effort here to control the virus, keep the numbers as low as possible in Auckland and keep getting those vaccinations up, and the number is 90 percent, and it's got to be right across the community." 
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Pushback on the idea that some businesses need to fail after lockdown.  
Economist Shamubeel Eaqub suggested some businesses should be left to fail, so others can thrive. 
He says the Government shouldn't be expected to prop up businesses who go under post lockdown, as there will be too many businesses and not enough demand.    
Restaurant Association chief executive Marisa Bidois told Kate Hawkesby it's not that simple.  
"We need to remember these business owners are people. They contribute to the economy, they affect the supply chain, so it's absolutely imperative that we look at helping these businesses out." 
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Proof that a cash incentive helps get your vaccination rates up, and it doesn't even have to break the bank. 
A Swedish study has found that just handing out 200 Swedish krona, or about 33 New Zealand dollars, was enough to increase rates by 4 percent. 
One of the lead authors of the study is Armando Meier out of the university of Lausanne and Armando joined Mike Hosking. 
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Doctors who refuse to get the Covid-19 vaccine may do their consultations online or over the phone. 
High-risk workers in the health and disability sector must be fully vaccinated by December 1, and get their first dose by October 30. 
It includes GPs, pharmacists, midwives, aged care workers and paramedics. 
College of GPs president, Samantha Murton, told Mike Hosking some of them will quit, but there's still the option of doing virtual consultations. 
"We may find that there are some that work in that way, it does lose a lot of the connection that you have with your patients and that's the real beauty of our jobs." 
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Across the ditch, gyms are struggling to get their members back after lockdown.  
Sydney's having to offer free workouts, new programmes, and promise better ventilation to drag people away from the comfort of home work-outs.  
Questions are still being raised as to what stage Auckland gyms can re-open. 
Richard Beddie, Exercise NZ CEO joined Kate Hawkesby. 
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The Government's decision to delay the reopening of Auckland schools by a week, is being seen as the right call, despite some believing it will result in lost learning for some children. 
As well, all school and early learning staff who have contact with students, must be fully vaccinated by January 1, and have their first dose by November 15. 
Developmental paediatrician Dr Jin Russell told Kate Hawkesby in the current context it's the right move. 
She says if you don't get it right, there will be transmission of Covid-19 in schools, mainly between adults. 
"And that will cause small rolling small closures and the need for children to isolate from one another, so it is smart to delay it a little bit.” 
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