Covid Watch

Is Covid-19 increasing the risk of leader burnout?
NZ Herald Business reporter Jane Phare researched into the issue, and found that leaders are feeling even more overworked as a result of Covid, compared to 2019, and that leaders are caught in between their staff and their businesses.
86 per cent of business leaders are feeling stressed, but Phare says they carry the burden of the entire company.
Jane Phare joined Andrew Dickens.
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Sir John Key has come out over the weekend, slamming the government's slow response and lack of initiative from ministers over the slow rate of vaccination, MIQ and the use of fear to control the population.  
Both Sunday papers carried his opinion piece and this morning he spoke to the MHB.
The PM has responded that the government is already working on some of the suggestions from the former PM - but seriously, how and why are we working on these measures?  
It's such an utterly reactive response when we've had the benefit of seeing what has happened overseas and what has worked.  
The saliva tests for instance - you may have read Vererena Frederika Hasel's piece in the Herald.  
A German psychologist who lives in New Zealand, she went to Germany to visit family and friends in May of this year.  
And far from being a place ravaged and devastated by Covid, life was pretty much back to normal.  
Like everyone else, we were entitled to a free rapid virus test every day. 
So we started our days with a visit to a testing centre in our neighbourhood, joining people who turned up in their gym clothes because they were just about to go on their morning run. 
Thirteen thousand testing centres had opened up all over the country, all of them fully funded by the government. 
We received the test results within 15 minutes on our mobiles.  
New Zealand on the other hand feels frozen in time ever since I returned.
Eighteen months into the pandemic, the government has not introduced the tools that have proved effective in stopping the spread of Covid-19 in other parts of the world.  
The government still owes the public an explanation for why the vaccine rollout has been so maddeningly slow. 
It has never explained this nor has it apologised for it. They even claimed everything was going according to plan. 
The reality is: If people had been vaccinated sooner, this long Auckland lockdown would have been averted.
Experts who act as advisors to the government have been a bit smug. 
Sir David Skegg accused other countries of having let New Zealand down.
They could have gone down the elimination path but they chose not to, he said. 
But it is not as easy as that. 
Not every country is an island or is able or willing to close its borders. 
I am actually having a very hard time accepting the border closure here.  
So add this voice of reason to that of Sir John Key's, to Sir Ian Taylor's, to Rob Fyfe's - these are not people who are mad granny killers, who want to throw New Zealanders to the wolf of Covid.  
They just see a government who does not seem to be able to pivot the way it has asked businesses to do, a government that is bereft of ideas, that is anything but transparent and that only knows one simplistic way to manage a crisis.  
And that's to shut everything down.

Support for the views of Sir John Key.
Some have labelled the former Prime Minister's assessment of the Government's Covid-19 response as naive and out of touch.
But an outspoken critic of the Government's Covid response is backing Key's views.
Auckland University Emeritus Professor of Medicine Des Gorman told Kate Hawkesby the Government is relying too much on fear to get people vaccinated.
“Fear’s not the way you get sustainable changes in human behaviour. Fear makes people unwell. We need to demonstrate to people what the rewards and privileges are of vaccination and complying with public health measures.”
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The Government remains confident of Auckland's chances of stamping out its current outbreak of Covid-19.
Auckland recorded another 18 new community cases yesterday and five cases from the past fortnight are yet to be epidemiologically linked to existing cases.
Experts are concerned about the number of cases that have been infectious in the community and the coming days will be crucial to bringing the outbreak under control.
But Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson told Mike Hosking the current case numbers are in line with expectations.
“The kind of numbers that you’re seeing at the moment aren’t the exponential growth numbers, they’re the rumbling along of unfortunately, infections within households largely or occasionally across a couple of households. That’s unfortunately part of Delta.”
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Sir John Key isn't standing down on his claim that New Zealand has a "smug hermit kingdom" mentality it needs to break out of.
The former Prime Minister claims Labour is ruling with fear, likening its leadership to that of North Korea.
Some experts say Key's suggestions like offering small incentives for getting jabbed and introducing home isolation for MIQ are simplistic or naive.
But Sir John told Mike Hosking he stands by his ideas.
“We cannot carry on doing what we are doing. We have to reopen. Australia’s made it very clear at 80 per cent they're opening up. We’re a country of traders, we have been for 70 or 80 years.”
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The Delta outbreak could go either way.
New Zealand has 18 new Covid-19 cases today - two are unlinked.
Canterbury University's Michael Plank says cases could increase in level 3 - but could also be controlled with strict bubbles and contact tracing.
He says we aren't seeing the effect of level 3 yet - but towards the end of this week we'll have a better idea of whether numbers will creep up.
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Kevin Milne's getting sick of the relentless negativity about the way we've handled the COVID response.He's been speaking to Jack Tame.LISTEN ABOVE

This is the first show I’ve broadcast in more than a month in which Auckland has been out of the dreaded Alert Level 4.And honestly, I thought this time, things *might* be different. I thought after more a month of sitting at home, more of us in the big city might have taken stock, kicked the habit, and set our aspirations a little higher for the move to Level 3. Aucklanders might have learnt from every one else around the country. A new start. A new dawn. A new opportunity to refresh our routines.
But no. We all went to McDonalds and Burger King and Wendy’s and Carl’s Junior, and KFC, instead.Well, not all of us. I’m not trying to be all high and mighty but I haven’t had any of that Worldwide-franchisey-plastic-additivesy-supersize-me shit in almost fifteen years and I’ll be damned if a move to Level 3 was going to convince me to spend half an hour with an idling engine waiting for some chicken nuggets in a drive-through queue.What’s wrong with people? On Wednesday I could see queues down the street for my closest franchise. Addicts waiting for a fix! Honestly, big brand fast food franchise marketing has to be one of the greatest media swindles of all time. Because in case you haven’t noticed, the food’s really not that good.
It’s ok I guess. A bit of sugar, salt, and saturated fat plus however many hundred additives. Call me old fashioned but I prefer my food to be prepared with ingredients, not random numbers.And before you accuse me of elitism, know this: I’m not a vegan. I’m not a health nut. I eat sugar and salt and saturated fat. But if I’m going to enjoy some takeaways as a bit of a treat, I’d much rather spend my money on a roti canai at the Malaysian hole-in-the-wall down the road, or on a scoop and a piece of cod at the local fish and chip shop. Independent small businesses need all the help they can get right now.I know we love to joke about it. Haha! Two guys got caught trying to smuggle buckets of K-Fry over the Auckland border. Hilarious. I just think sometimes the fixation is a bit... lame. Apparently health officials have been considering setting up a vaccination system at KFCs, Piza Huts, and Taco Bells. Part of me thinks it’s smart. Part of me thinks it’s funny. Part of me thinks it’s pretty sad state that there are apparently people in our society who would rather get a Cheesy Gordita Crunch than a vaccination for a deadly virus.I saw Population Nutrition Professor Boyd Swinburn on Breakfast this week, lamenting the fast food ‘culture of craving’ that has dominated Covid-19. I totally agree with him. It’s a conversation our society don’t really want to have and you shouldn’t need me to make this point: If you think Covid-19 puts pressure on our health system, just wait until you hear about bad nutrition!There are plenty of reasons I hope we never go back to Level Four. Plenty. Top of the list: I’m sick of people treating a quarter pack or a McChicken combo like a sweet sip of water after a long march through the desert.

Employers are being put in a difficult situation over Covid-19 vaccinations.
An employment lawyer says that workers may be able to sue if the jab is made mandatory.
He's calling for the government to lay out a clear policy on this so employers can be sure the law is on their side.
Edwin Morrison told Heather du Plessis Allan employers could also be in trouble if they don't mandate the vaccine.
“So a lot of employees are going to say, ‘well my understanding is that we are recommended to be vaccinated and the risk is higher if they aren’t, why should we be put in an environment with that risk?’”
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Trying to get across the ditch has pushed some to extreme measures.
Some people are spending huge amounts of money to get back to Australia with reports a family of three booked a private charter plane to Brisbane.
Inflight Charters says the news has generated about 20 calls and 15 emails from people wanting to do the same.
Charter Manager Paul Aston told Heather Du Plessis Allan things are getting busy.
“Certainly today has sort of shown that there’s a demand there, and they're all Australian bound — it’s all Brisbane, Queensland, Sydney, that sort of thing.”
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