Covid Watch

Nici Wickes joins Jack Tame to talk about a delicious recipe for a picnic tar, which she describes as a favourite and best served at room temperature, making it perfect for taking on a picnic.
A PICNIC TART
This tart is a favourite of mine and it’s good served at room temperature so perfect for taking on a picnic. 
Serves 6-8 
2 sheets short crust pastry 
3 eggs, beaten with a fork 
200g cream cheese or crème fraiche, room temperature 
1 cup roughly chopped herbs – any or all of parsley, coriander, basil 
½ tsp sea salt + ground black pepper 
1-2 zucchini, or use asparagus or broccoli, sliced thinly 
75 g parmesan, grated 
Chutney to serve 

Preheat oven to 180 C and place an oven tray in to heat. Grease a 26x34cm shallow roasting dish or tart tin.
Press pastry into tin, moistening the joins and pressing firmly to seal. Trim edges.
Whisk together eggs, cream cheese and seasoning. Add herbs. Pour into pastry case.
Lay vegetable slices on top and sprinkle over parmesan.
Bake for 25-35 minutes or until set and pastry crust is crisp. Cool in tin. Wrap in a tea towel and take to the picnic!

It couldn’t have been simpler.
I logged into the new ‘My Covid Record’ website. A big banner up the top warned me the website is still under development and might have a few hiccups, but it was seamless for me. I entered my identification details and soon the confirmation stared me back in the face.
Jack Renfrey Tame. As of Thursday October 7th, 2021, officially doubled vaccinated for Covid-19. I could show my name and a little QR code. My NHI number. Proof of vaccination. Easy as that.
The development of a vaccine passport (or whatever you want to call it) is another little milestone in our response to Covid. In my opinion, it’s taken far too long to get to this point. The passport system should have been under development as soon as we ordered vaccines, if only as an insurance policy. Despite similar systems being used in countries all over the World. as recently as August Jacinda Ardern was ruling out a requiring a vaccine passport in New Zealand. But Delta and the drop-off in our vaccination rates has changed all that. At the very least, you’ll need confirmation of your vaccination status to attend big events over summer.
Personally, I think we should go even further. With a few exceptions, all businesses and organisations should have the right to deny access to people who have chosen not to be vaccinated. We should allow legitimate medical exemptions. And regardless of their vaccination status, Kiwis should be able to access essential services. Everyone should be able to go to the supermarket or the doctor. But any discretionary venue – restaurants, cafes, theatres, libraries, retail shops, – should be allowed to demand proof of vaccination before letting someone inside.
This is already the setup overseas. Two weeks ago, Brazil’s President staged a photo-op in New York, for which he ate pizza while standing on the sidewalk. As an unvaccinated person, he wasn’t allowed inside. But that was his choice. Good riddance, as far as I’m concerned.
It’s important to note a vaccine passport system is quite different to a flat-out nationwide vaccine mandate. We won’t be forcing everyone to be vaccinated. You can still choose not to get the jab. But there will be consequences for the choice.
The way I look at it, refusing a vaccine is a bit like smoking. As far as I’m concerned, you can choose to smoke a cigarette. The health impacts are well-documented, but that’s on you. However, the moment your choice impacts upon my health, the moment I’m sucking in second-hand smoke, we have a problem.
Your freedom to smoke a cigarette in a restaurant impacts my freedom not to get lung cancer.
The primary reason someone should get vaccinated is because the science is clear – vaccinations protect our health.
But a person’s choice not to get vaccinated impacts us all. If someone’s not prepared to contribute to the greater good of society, why should they benefit from a society’s collective rewards?
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The Tourism Export Council says we're going to miss out on two years' worth of international visitors if we don't get a reopening plan announced soon.
The group says the Government needs to announce the plan by November 1st or international travel companies will start to take us off the map.
Chief executive Lynda Keene told Heather du Plessis-Allan they'd been asking for a plan for over six months.
"We've put the line in the sand with the 1st of November because our offshore wholesalers and agents, they're desperately wanting to know if they can sell New Zealand from January 2022."
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Be prepared to meet Covid by Christmas was the stern message from epidemiologist Michael Baker yesterday.
That is the new reality, but it's a massive change of mindset.
Clinical psychologist Jacqui Maguire told Heather du Plessis-Allan that people are fatigued with Covid.
"You have to think about what it's like to be agile, to shift mindset, to shift strategy on entire brains, and I think it's going to take time."
Maguire argues those over lockdown and double-vaccinated will adapt quickly, but those that are more vulnerable in terms of financial stability and health will be more anxious.
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The South Island is calling for a tougher border with the North.
There are 44 new community cases of Covid-19 today — 41 in Auckland and three in Waikato.
It comes as Epidemiologist Michael Baker cautions people anywhere in New Zealand should prepare to meet the virus before Christmas.
Grey District mayor Tania Gibson told Heather Du Plessis Allan South Islanders are living well under Level Two, and they don't want to lose that.
“I think that it would be quite good if there was a strategy or a system in place that freight could get through and people domestically didn't need to travel if it got out of control. I think it would probably be quite a good thing for the South Island to remain Covid free.”
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Like a thief in the night, or a drug courier, Delta’s deep leakage into the mighty Waikato is the kind of creep we could have done without.  
An incursion that’s forecast to unleash wider spread into the regions. And that’s before we get to the Whangarei matter. Yesterday’s daily case parade wasn’t as dire as some feared, but in the North and South, the heartland feels like a sitting duck. Even with a natural moat right in the middle. 
I hope like hell the pace of Delta’s march across the land, can be ankle-tapped somewhat, to buy us all time to get double-jabbed. 
I’m grateful I got my second dose a month ago. I didn’t rest on my laurels. I wasn’t complacent, unlike the Government, on so many fronts. 
 Wherever you turn – vaccines, boosters, testing, hospital capacity, vaccine certificates, the Auckland Road Map, you name it – the sense of a government in the midst of a mad scramble is unmistakeable. A state of constantly playing catch up. 
They were ill-prepared and late to the chase to deal with Delta. 
And the countdown to Christmas is going to be a rocky road. 
But I choose to be an optimist. Tomorrow’s horizons will be brighter. 
Scary headlines and the unrelenting juggernaut of all things Covid hogging the news cycle can play with your head. Fear is a potent, soul-sapping force. Don’t let it sink your spirits. 
Don’t be fearful, but be guarded. 
If you haven’t rolled up to get jabbed, don’t sit it out. 
For the sake of yourself, your family and your friends, don’t be a jerk about this. 
Don’t play watch and wait. Don’t vacillate. Vaccinate. 
Embrace the brilliance of medical science – no matter how imperfect you may consider it to be. 
Don’t wait for breakthrough treatments to arrive on our shores. You know how slow this government is to make things happen. 
Don’t be bloody-minded, don’t pack a sad at people like me, don’t get sucked in by false prophets. Get off Tik Tok and get off your chuff. 
Get protected, pronto. 
Lives and livelihoods are all at stake. Let’s get our economy cranking again and resuscitate businesses on the brink and buckling. Let’s get New Zealand reopen to ourselves and the world. Will you stand up? 
We’re counting on you, so that we can all get on with life.

Northland is still awaiting more details about a covid case who visited the region earlier this week. 
The Auckland-based essential worker has tested positive for the virus in Auckland, days after returning a weak positive result in Whāngarei. 
Northland DHB is stepping up testing, and screening for patients and visitors at hospitals. 
Whāngarei Mayor Sheryl Mai told Mike Yardley officials have also been working to identify the person's movements in both Auckland and Northland. 
"It's important that we know where this person has been and hopefully, they have been using the QR codes scans so that we can all be notified if we've been at those locations of interest as well." 
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The rollout of antigen testing is being described as better late than never.  
It's been approved for use in Auckland City, Middlemore and North Shore hospitals.  
It'll also be used as part of the self-isolation pilot, starting in Auckland and Christchurch later this month. 
It follows a report which found the Government was too slow to implement it. 
Malaghan Institute Director Graham Le Gros told Mike Yardley the delay isn't necessarily a bad thing.  
"There is a lot of issues around building up and rolling out a test like this, and now we're wise, a few things have come out so you can actually see what's the right way to do these things." 
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It will be a long night for vaccinators at one Auckland vaccine centre.  
The Tamaki vaccination centre opened today and will be keep jabbing until 6.30 tomorrow morning. 
It's the first overnight vaccination event in the country.  
Northern Regional Coordination Centre Clinical Director Dr Anthony Jordan told Mike Yardley they had a certain type of person in mind.  
"Essential workers that may have to work night shifts, people that work at petrol stations, for example. Those are the sorts of people we are trying to capture." 
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National MP Chris Bishop is feeling vindicated by the Government's decision to introduce rapid antigen tests in some hospitals. 
He told Tim Dower it's something he's been calling for, for some time. 
"Other countries have them, they use them. They are a useful tool to pick up Covid in the community and we should be using them." 
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