Covid Watch

We're stuck now, a Level 3 lockdown in Auckland that's starting to fragment, and frankly no chance of that being eased today. 
And now cases in Waikato, no proven link yet to the Auckland outbreak, but if not there, where did it come from? 
Weeks of restrictions, and yet still Delta is still spreading. 
What does that tell you? 
It tells me that not everyone has been playing the game and as time goes on and people go out protesting in the streets, it's going to get away again. 
Even the Prime Minister admits that locking down Hamilton can't be done. 
There will be spot checks, but the bottom line is it's up to the general population to please co-operate. 
Fingers crossed, in other words. 
I'm lucky I live in a Level 2 region; I'd have probably gone around the bend in Auckland. 
People I hear on ZB and people I'm in touch with personally are trying to keep chipper but it's exhausting, and I really, sincerely feel for you; you must be so over it. 
You need your freedom back, but with vaccinations where they are and this virus behaving like, what did Dr B call it? A heat-seeking missile, the consequences would be serious. 
We haven't got the facilities or the people to treat all the people who'd get sick. 
And we haven't got the stomach to accept the number of people who wouldn't make it. 
So we're stuck; a lockdown that isn't working and less than half of us fully vaccinated. 
Are we supposed to wait till Christmas? Or the 90 percent we're not going to get, before we ease up? 
Sooner or later we're going to have to accept the trade-off between our freedom, and the consequences of that. 
And we'll have to navigate our own way through, as individuals. 
If you want to isolate your way through this that's your call. 
But as a nation, it's just not working for us.

Auckland's Mayor says police were put in a tough position yesterday with a Destiny Church organised anti-lockdown protest.
Around 2000 protesters gathered for a rally outside Auckland's War Memorial Museum yesterday.
No arrests have been made so far and police had a scant presence there.
Phil Goff told the Weekend Collective police could have inflamed tensions if they had been harder.
"Their preferred approach was to try to keep the temperature down and hold open the option that they will still charge people for breach of the health order."
Goff said the event was unacceptable.
"I was really unhappy with Brian Tamaki and his group of people who thought that somehow they were above the law and they could have this superspreader event while the rest of us were trying to do the right thing for the city."
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A Covid-19 expert says Waikato's latest outbreak may not be as bad as Auckland's.
Parts of the Waikato region will move to Alert Level 3 at 11:59 tonight.
Auckland went to Alert Level Four with one case. 
Auckland University Covid-19 modeller Shaun Hendy says the government might have suspicions the two cases are linked to the Auckland outbreak.
He told the Weekend Collective there may be another cause for optimism.
“Our vaccination programme is a long way along now, it’s still got a ways to go, but actually, the vaccination programme will actually be cutting spread.”
However, with 33 cases today and 19 unlinked cases from the weekend, he thinks it's a negative trend.
"We're gonna see number continue to increase, and really, what's going to get us out of this situation is our vaccine programme."
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As Auckland heads into its eighth week of lockdown, the frustrations are starting to seep in for the city.
Aucklanders are becoming less compliant with lockdown restrictions, especially with yesterday’s protest in the Auckland Domain, led by Brian Tamaki.
Meanwhile, school holidays have started this week.
And there are questions over how to keep kids entertained and parents sane, particularly in Auckland where kids haven't been to school due to Covid restrictions.
The possibility of living up to 200 has also come into debate.
Venture capitalist Sergey Young has set the goal of helping 1 billion people expand their lifespans and defeat ageing.
Listen above as Paul Ego and Dai Henwood discuss the week's news with Francesca Rudkin on The Sunday Panel

We’re coming to the end of Mental Health Awareness Week, and this week we have been encouraged to be kind to ourselves and each other, especially reaching out to those struggling in lockdown.
The physical toll of Covid-19 is very visible, the mental health ramifications are often overlooked and not prioritised.
As businesses are closed, kids are home and schools are virtual, and lockdowns are extended has a snowball impact on our mental health. 
Naturopath and wellbeing expert Erin O'Hara joined Francesca Rudkin to discuss the rising effects on mental health in the current lockdown.
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Covid vaccination is a hot topic at the moment. 
But it can be an incredibly divisive and difficult discussion to have, particularly when dealing with friends or family who are vaccine-hesitant. 
Dr Jess Berentson-Shaw told Francesca Rudkin about 20 per cent of people have some hesitancies about the vaccine, but they aren't a predictor for whether someone will get vaccinated or not.
"People's attitudes and beliefs about vaccinations move up and down a continuum and we know that lots of people with concerns go on to get vaccinated."
Dr Berentson-Shaw said in some strong cases people will lose friends over the vaccine debate.
"I think in most places if we keep the conversation casual, if we keep it in a listening space and if we keep it about why it matters to us, then for lots of people we won't."
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It’s finally the school holidays and it comes as a great relief to parents, students and teachers alike, particularly in Auckland after 7 weeks of online learning. 
But the impact of online learning for students in Auckland and what it’s going to take to get them back up to speed is something to question. 
Secondary Principals Association President Vaughan Couillault told Francesca Rudkin Auckland students have lost a term of face-to-face schooling alongside the time lost in February and March.
"What they've lost is the ability to engage in that face-to-face learning where your depth of understanding and your breadth of understanding can be expanded."
Couillault says that online learning gets through a short period of time comfortably, but a longer period is detrimental to their learning.
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It’s been an interesting week in Level 3. ‘Fractious’ would be the way I’d describe Auckland at present - we’re ever so gently pulling apart at the seams. 
This week I’ve heard of teenagers catching up with their mates at the park, kids having sleep-overs, friends going on walks together. Being in level 3 and double vaccinated some bubbles are growing faster than they should.
In other neighbourhoods though, where sub-clusters linger, there is still an urgency to get tested and vaccinated and many are clinging tightly to their bubbles as they’ve been asked to do. 
You never know what you’re going to get when you venture outside. Some people smile and nod as they walk and run past you, others scowl at your proximity. Some scan their Covid tracer app, but many haven’t switched into mandatory mode yet.  
We’ve seen case numbers dip, then rise dramatically, sending kids into a panic - “are they going to take away our takeaways?” was the cry in our house on Wednesday. A day later, both the numbers and kids were calmer.
We fluctuate between good news – a family was reunited this week, a ridiculous proposal for a cycleway across Auckland harbour was ditched, and finally 165,000 migrants can plan their lives – and bad news - stories of MIQ misery and the closure of one of Auckland’s iconic restaurants. Euro’s demise is a sign of what’s to come. 
But while many of us are fraying in week 7 of lockdown, it has been confronting over recent days to watch a gang congregate for a funeral and Brian Tamaki lead his flock of around 2000 to the Auckland Domain in an anti-lockdown protest. 
For 18 months people have not been able to comfort, farewell or mourn their loved ones when they pass away during lockdown. It’s one of the particularly cruel impacts of lockdown, but one that’s been endured for the greater good.
So watching a gang take to the street, or gather outside a cemetery, is flaunting the rules and infuriating; what concerns me just as much is what happened before and after the funeral - everyone home for a cuppa? 
The same could be said for Brian Tamaki’s anti-lockdown protest yesterday at Auckland’s Domain. A couple of thousand people turned up to hear Tamaki’s message to the Government, which was "We've had a gutsful". 
I don’t want to shock Tamaki, but we’ve all had a gutsful and the government is well aware of our lockdown fatigue. Only days from now the government will decide whether Auckland changes alert levels. Publicity stunts like this don’t add to the conversation, they only put at risk the chances of us moving down levels. 
Painful as it is, we need to ride out the next few days at least, keep the vaccination rates up, and look forward at a summer of much fewer restrictions. 
Let’s hope a few don’t ruin it for us all.

Lobby groups for the business sector are protesting against the Government’s plans to keep Aucklanders locked in the city even if the alert levels move down.
The Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA), Business New Zealand and the Auckland Business Chamber say they were taken completely by surprise by the plan to protest.
EMA Head of Advocacy Alan McDonald joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.
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I reckon it’s still looking good for Auckland to go to some form of Level 2 next week.
Which means the rest of the country should hopefully go to Level 1.
Obviously, there’s a massive caveat here that things could yet change over the weekend.  
If we saw a huge number of cases and it was high enough to really freak people out, then cAbinet might stick to Level 3. 
But, at the moment, the signs are pointing to Level 2 and the biggest clue is the language they’re using.  
They are trying really hard to reassure people that this outbreak is under control.  
Even while reporting a reasonably high 19 new cases today - one of which is a mystery case – we’re told there is nothing to worry about here: it’s all fine.
“Many of our clusters are now considered to be contained,” Caroline McElnay said today.
She's telling people not to worry about all those cases turning up at hospital.
"I just want to reiterate that while there has been a number of exposure events at Middlemore hospital this is not unexpected.”
And then she tells us not to freak out if there are more cases. 
"We know from the number of already notified cases that there could be an additional 35 cases in coming days among household contacts".
The other hint is in the boundary warning.  
That was a really big clue yesterday.  
Why would the PM warn Aucklanders that the boundary would stay up in Level 2 unless Level 2 was a very strong possibility, if not the most likely possibility on Monday?
Clearly, there are some people very uncomfortable about Level 2 including those arguing that we should stay in level 3 another week.  
What for?  
Level 3 is not bringing the numbers down.  
Last Friday we recorded 9 cases, today, Friday, we’re recording 19.  
We could stay I here another week and it’d be another solid week of cases while Auckland slowly goes nutso in a failing lockdown.  
Right now the PM’s choice is keep Auckland in Level 3 which will achieve nothing but will make voters even more angry, or move to Level 2, accept the inevitable and hopefully keep some of those voters a bit happier.  
The logic says give up.  
The language says they’re prepping us to shift down.  
Short of something surprising over the weekend, I’m betting some form of level 2 on Monday.