Covid Watch

It’s lucky we weren’t on air last week, because we probably would’ve been sacked.  
I mean there are only so many swear words tolerable on air, but expressing the rage of Aucklanders right now would use up a lot of them.  
I get the overwhelming sense now that people are angry, and over it. I mean they were angry and over it a while ago, but it seems to be gaining momentum. There’s less empathy for lockdowns and teams of 5 million talk, and more rage. 
Rage against those breaking the rules, border breachers, gangs.. don’t even get me started on the gangs.. the incomprehensible rules we are supposed to be following, the lack of a plan, the needlessness of all this.  
All of it. It’s rage inducing. And it’s landed in Auckland, as well as Northland and Waikato laps this past week, that we're potentially not getting out of this anytime soon. 
Some people mistake rage at lockdown as being about first world problems like not being able to get to the hairdresser, but it’s actually so much more than that.  
It’s watching your mates' businesses and livelihoods go under, it’s watching your local cafes and restaurants begging for custom as they desperately try to ‘pivot’ and serve up some kind of takeaway.  
It’s families separated, elderly isolated, young people starved of any kind of normality, students suffering, kids missing school, people struggling with their wellbeing. Watching people burn through all their savings just to stay afloat. It’s a lot. 
Which is why the PM’s little tiki tour roadie with her fiancé splashed all over the news like some kind of cheesy home movie, felt like a tone-deaf slap in the face this weekend. 
As they winged their way through the provinces encouraging vaccinations, did we really need the side bar of the PM popping into her childhood home for a tour, regaling her social media audience with tales of her past? 
Sure, do that anytime we’re not suffering through a pandemic with some of the strictest restrictions in the world, as she proudly told us the other day. But her joking and laughing about Clark eating her pie, I mean, read the room. 
This whole Covid response has been so lacking in any kind of understanding of life on the ground in Auckland, which by the way is her hometown, that it’s become quite a galling disconnect.  
Whoever thought this was good PR to have the PM galivant around provincial New Zealand like it’s some fun 'trip down memory lane' roadie, missed the mark. Sure, do a vaccinate tour, but let’s not make it a political and personal branding exercise at the same time. 
It also left a gaping hole in terms of any accountability to answer any questions about the two women absconders around Northland, or front up on the 60-case number jump yesterday. 
Cancelling press conferences when it suits and instead manufacturing curated PR stunts through the PM's home town to giggle over pies, shows total arrogance and disregard for all those doing the hard yards.

Despite Auckland being in it's longest lockdown ever, daily Covid-19 cases keep climbing up. 
Yesterday we had 60 community cases, 56 of them in Auckland. 
Covid's also hit the regions now, with cases in Waikato, Northland and Bay of Plenty. 
Today the Government's announcing whether any restrictions will be loosened. 
University of Otago senior lecturer in primary healthcare and general practice Lesley Gray joined Kate Hawkesby. 
LISTEN ABOVE 

A glimmer of good news ahead of Cabinet's review of alert level settings and Auckland restrictions this afternoon. 
The Delta outbreak has seen infected people hospitalised at twice the rate of all previous cases. 
Experts say yesterday's 60 new cases, including 56 in Auckland, signal the start of "exponential growth" that makes the loosening of restrictions "not even worth contemplating". 
But a person who travelled between Auckland and Katikati and their family members have all returned negative tests overnight. 
Health Minister Andrew Little told Mike Hosking more of the Auckland cases are also being linked back to existing cases in the region. 
"They're looking better, there's quite a bit of work to be done overnight on that so I suspect by later today those numbers will look better in terms of unlinked cases." 
LISTEN ABOVE

Pharmac's announced an agreement to buy the Covid-19 antiviral oral drug Molnupiravir. 
The drug buying agency says it will be used to treat New Zealanders with mild to moderate Covid-symptoms.  
But the treatment will first need to gain regulatory approval from Medsafe.  
Chief Executive Sarah Fitt says there's a time frame in mind for when it'll be rolled out. 
"We are probably looking at quarter one next year, becuase obviously they've got to scale up their production and it will also have to go to the regulatory approval." 
The advanced purchase agreement secures an initial supply of 60-thousand courses of the drug. 
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Concerns from an epidemiologist following the confirmation of 60 new community cases of Covid-19 today.
There are 56 new cases in Auckland, including 17 that are yet to be linked to existing cases.
There are another three cases in Waikato linked to the initial Hamilton East case and a case in Katikati in Bay of Plenty that was already announced last night.
Auckland University epidemiologist Rod Jackson told The Weekend Collective he's concerned about the situation in Northland where a Covid case hasn't been cooperating with authorities.
“Doesn't look too bad in the Waikato, I think we might stamp out that one. Auckland, we just have to suppress it until we all get vaccinated. Northland, I’m freaking out in a major way because I think we could have big problems there.”
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National says the Government needs to move urgently to make vaccination mandatory in more frontline roles.
Cabinet ministers are due to discuss the issue tomorrow.
National Covid-19 Response Spokesman Chris Bishop says he expects them to agree to make vaccination mandatory for all healthcare workers dealing with Covid cases.
He told The Weekend Collective it's something he's been calling for and fully supports.
“Frankly, probably taken too long. At the moment, you could be a nurse, working on someone with Covid in ICU, and not have to be vaccinated. It’s pretty nuts."
More than 3.4 million first doses and more than 2.3 million second doses have now been administered, with more than 81-thousand doses being administered yesterday alone.
In Auckland, about 86 per cent of people have received at least one dose, and 61 percent of people are now fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
Bishop says he can't stress how important it is, that everyone goes out and gets their jab.
"You protect yourself, but you also protect your loved ones, and your neighbours and the whole community because every extra person that's vaccinated limits the chance of the virus spreading around in the community."
Jacinda Ardern has spent the past few days visiting remote North Island East Coast communities, to push the vaccination message.
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A political commentator says this is one of the worst weeks for the Government when it came to messaging.
After a muddled roadmap for Auckland at the start, it all ended with 60 cases across Auckland, Northland, Waikato and Bay of Plenty.
Former politician turned commentator Peter Dunne told The Weekend Collective it could be the week the extended honeymoon the public's had with the Government has started to wane.
"There seems to be a sense abroad now that what everyone thought of what was happening previously is now not clear what the direction is. There's a sort of a sense of indecision and lack of clarity."
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In one week, there have been positive Covid cases in the Waikato, Northland and now Bay of Plenty.
University of Otago's Michael Baker wrote a blog on what the country needs to do to stop more cases from getting out, from tightening the Auckland border.
But with more people in Auckland getting double vaccinated, they need Auckland to be reopened for livelihoods, business and mental health.
Whilst Covid elimination may no longer be possible in Auckland, it may still be possible to continue with that method in more rural parts of New Zealand, especially with vaccination.
The South Island is still in Alert Level 2 despite not having a Covid case in over a year. 
There have been calls for a restriction of travel between the North and South Islands to just freight to protect the South Island from Delta.


Listen above as Morgan Godfery and Lorna Subritzky discuss the week's news with Francesca Rudkin on The Sunday Panel

Last night it was reported there is a positive case of Covid-19 in Bay of Plenty. 
This follows positive cases in Palmerston North, Waikato and Northland this week. 
Yesterday the public health team at Otago University released a blog detailing what we need to do to protect the rest of the country from Covid spread. 
Professor Michael Baker told Francesca Rudkin we should think much harder about strengthening the Auckland borders to give us a better chance of elimination.
"You only have to look at Australia, which has really succeeded with regional controls. You've got eight states and territories there, five of them are actually still eliminating the virus and the remaining three have got a suppression approach."
Baker suggests that reducing the reasons to cross the Auckland border and the number of people crossing for the next few weeks until high vaccination coverage around the country and Auckland should help.
LISTEN ABOVE

As Northland moved into Level 3 at midnight on Friday I thought the Whangarei Mayor Sheryl Mai summed up the feeling of the north well when she said “I’m just really ropeable.”
I’ve been impressed with how tolerant we’ve been when Covid cases have popped up in the community. We’ve seen people be compliant and helpful, using the tools on offer and taking responsibility. 
The majority of people don’t want to spread Covid 19 - they’ve been happy to be tested, used the Covid app, and assisted contract tracers. 
Which is why this Northland case is so frustrating. 
As Mayor Mai said, ‘We’ve got a person who really has done everything they should not do. And they have impacted all of Northland as a result.
Far North mayor John Carter added Northland returning to level 3 was "unfortunate and frustrating", which I imagine is an understatement. 
There have been plenty of rumours about the woman who falsified documents to get her travel exemption from Auckland to Northland, and then went on a tiki-tour. Winston Peters popped up on television yesterday to voice a rumour regarding her affiliations and profession, and the last 24 hours have been full of denials from all sides. 
Normally, we don’t get personal information about people who test positive for Covid – we have had details about first or early cases, but generally the government is very conscious of protecting people’s privacy.
This Northland case is a little different. Rules have been broken, there’s no cooperation, and it appears to be a terribly selfish act - so people are angry and want answers.  
The government more than likely know quite a bit about this person and they should just come clean with what they know; then we can move onto what’s important, which is protecting the people of Northland - that’s where our energy should lie. 
Northland vaccination rates are low, about 70 per cent of Northland's eligible population have had one dose, while 48 per cent have had two doses. The rates are lower for Maori: 52 per cent for one dose and 32 per cent are fully vaccinated.
Now is the time to do whatever it takes, offer all resources necessary, to make it easy for those in Northland, especially in remote areas, to get vaccinated. 
It’s also a warning to other lowly vaccinated areas around New Zealand. 
As of Monday it’s no longer clear what the government’s strategy is towards Covid 19, but whatever it is, high vaccine coverage is key. All New Zealanders regardless of alert level need to be prepared to be exposed to Covid 19.
But it’s not all doom and gloom, Professor Michael Baker believes that Auckland should pursue a regional suppression approach, while the rest of New Zealand can continue to pursue a regional elimination approach. It’s going to involve the tightening of internal borders, but it allows for time to get vaccination rates up, and keep alert levels down as we begin this transition to living with Covid.