Covid Watch

Ever since the first instance of lockdown, we have been fascinated with working from home and flexible working.   
In the UK, ministers are set to confirm laws that would allow employees to request the right to work from home from day dot.  
Currently they have to wait at least six months.  
But is there an argument to be made that, while convenient, the downsides could unbalance the scale?  
General Manager of Wellbeing at Skills consulting group Jane Kennelly joined Mike Hosking. 
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It's been a crushing week for the so-called commentators and Covid experts. 
These are the voices of the Government that really weren't supposed to be the voices of the Government, but ended up by in large being Government parrots. The modellers, the predictors, the science and medical brains that have become household names, and the go to voices a thousand times to tell us what's going on and what happens next. 
But if you have been paying attention, you will have noticed the change in tone and the change in tack. 
What the Government announced this week was the acceptance that elimination hasn’t worked, that lockdown didn’t work, and won't eliminate. 
The commentary we have heard from the likes of Michael Baker and Shaun Hendy has changed. Baker on this station last Friday was saying it was too soon to drop levels. He was right in terms of what he has said for the past year and a half. He's been consistent. 
We have anywhere between 15 and 30 news cases a day. We have mystery cases most days. This is a man whose reputation has been built on conservatism. This is a bloke who loves a longer lockdown than anyone wants. And yet by Friday night, over the weekend, and into this week there's seems an acceptance of what the Government did. A risk, yes, but an acceptance. 
Shaun Hendy was busy telling us that he thought the Government would move down a level. That's not what he started out doing, he started out talking about his modelling, saying what the Government might do is my job. 
But it has gone. The science, let's be honest, is out the window. 
For a government that followed the science until their polling told them buy in from us was gone and the lockdown was politically and economically catastrophic to carry on. So, the science was shelved and political reality was implemented. 
Where is the science? The voice of science telling us what a catastrophic mistake that has been made? The science is silent. Why? 
Siouxsie Wiles played her part in the destruction of credibility. 
To be fair, they are more than useful. But the simple truth is, they were used and ultimately played by the Government.

On the surface level 3 doesn't seem to change much for Aucklanders. 
Few more people back at work, takeaways back on the menu but plenty of limitations still. 
But it does provide huge relief for the construction sector. 
Chair of the NZ Construction Industry Council Graham Burke joined Mike Hosking. 
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Bit of a double-edged sword today, and I’m not sure what we should be worried about more. The hundreds of thousands of extra Aucklanders back at work today all mingling in kitchens, cafes and businesses, or the absconders who continue to flee the border. 
We’ve had the Hamilton Maccas run cowboys, the gang with the boot load of KFC, the Northland sisters skipping the border, the drug taker running along train tracks to avoid a border, the driver who tore through paddocks to avoid the border, the infamous Wānaka couple, the high-profile Aucklander who went to Queenstown, the man to Whakatane, the Uni students, another school student yesterday who tuned up magically in class in Dunedin after weeks locked down in Auckland Level 4.  
The other one yesterday, a man who left Auckland for Wellington to pick up a caravan and drive it back to Auckland, we had a man hiding in a car boot, and that’s before we get to the Black Power remand prisoner who breached his bail conditions by making several stops between Mt Eden prison and his home in the Waikato. 
So what’s the bigger worry for community transmission when we’re looking to stamp it out? Absconders? Or workplaces? 
Or will it be neighbours and their driveway drinks? Bubble breakers fed up with five weeks of isolation and taking a few calculated risks now? 
Because that’s the thing about this level change; it’s a risk, and it’s one we have to be vigilant about, but there’s the rub. 
It’s the Government’s famous high-trust model all over again, and we know from history how those high trust models go. 
For every compliant, rule abiding responsible citizen, there are always the few who risk ruining it for all of us. 
So although we are delighted to be in Level 3, purely because we can step out of our kitchens for a minute and grab some takeaways, we’re also slightly trepidatious. 
Maybe we are war weary from five weeks of Level 4, maybe the Government’s fear-mongering has taken hold and we just can’t shake it, either way, it’s hard to feel completely confident that it’s all plain sailing from here. 
It will, hopefully, be a good move for the economy. Although economists say we won’t know that for sure for a few weeks. 
But more than 200,000 Aucklanders back to work today will surely be a boost. 
And for those of us at home desperate for a night off the cooking, we’ll be trying to do the old ‘support local’ and order up those takeaways. Again, in the hope everyone does their bit in terms of social distancing and playing by the rules. 
Because the last thing we want right now is to ping back into a Level 4.  
We’ve come this far; let’s not stuff it up.

We know the medical side of the equation, why the Government is still pursuing elimination.  
But what about from a business perspective? How much business advice is being taken on board? Is business advice part of the equation when it comes to figuring out a vaccine rate? 
Former Air New Zealand boss and Government Covid-19 business advisor Rob Fyfe told Mike Hosking he is frustrated at support for businesses. 
“I talk to businesses every day that are keen to throw their shoulder to the wheel and help out, and it has been incredibly difficult to get a voice at the table.” 
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Employment specialist Max Whitehead has been talking with small businesses about mandating vaccines. 
He says told Mike Hosking for some it would mean extra legal hurdles and the potential loss of crucial highly-skilled staff. 
"I think it's going to be even tougher on employers, because they've got a real, real difficult decision to make here. It's going to be very difficult for all employers right across New Zealand." 
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Wellington's mayor isn't entirely sure why the capital's MIQ facilities are being halved. 
MBIE has decided to stop using one of Wellington's quarantine hotels, leaving just one in operation. 
MIQ officials say Wellington Airport is not set up to easily cater for red zone flights 
Andy Foster told Kate Hawkesby he's not sure why returnees aren't being shared around the regions.  
"Question marks about why a whole lot of people are being accommodated in the centre of our biggest city, but do you want to take the risk of moving people around the country? The Government's made a judgement that's not what they want to do." 
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Despite hundreds of thousands of Covid cases every day, and an average of 2000 deaths a day, the US is opening up again. 
They're opening their borders to vaccinated UK and EU citizens in November.  
The ban has been in place since March last year, and our tourism industry here will be watching with keen interest. 
But with the international tourism market opening up, will New Zealand get left behind? 
Grant Webster, Tourism Holdings Limited CEO joined Kate Hawkesby. 
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Incentives could play a part, in getting at least 90-percent of the country vaccinated by Christmas. 
In the latest BusinessNZ Covid Pulse survey the question was asked whether a business was currently or planning to incentivise workers to get the jab. 
55% said no and 27% said they were unsure. 
Westpac has become one of the first major corporates to offer incentives in offering staff leave to get themselves and their family members vaccinated. 
Human Resources Manager Marc Figgins told Mike Hosking it's about giving people every reason to get the jab. 
"Right now, the focus is getting everyone vaccinated and I reckon that's the mission, if big business can get in behind that and lead the way." 
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Increasing the fines for breaching covid rules is a nonsense isn’t it?   
The PM cannot seriously expect us to buy this.  
This is clearly designed to make it look like her government is cracking down on lockdown rule breakers when they’re doing nothing of the sort.   
   
The Prime Minister announced this afternoon that fines are going up   
On-the-spot fines for individuals who break the rules will go from 300 dollars to 4000 dollars. 
For companies that goes up to 12,000 dollars. 
Court-imposed fines for individuals go from 1000 dollars to 12000 dollars. 
And for companies it rises to 15,000 dollars. 
   
But first problem: these fines only come in from November. 
Hands up who thinks Auckland is still in lockdown in November.  
If that’s the case we’ve got much bigger problems on our hands than handing out fines. 
   
And in any case, what does lifting fines matter if the cops aren’t enforcing and fining in any case?   
The list of people who’ve broken the rules and faced no sanction that we’re aware of is rather long. 
The Wanaka couple - who as good as admitted what they’d done - 12 days on: still no charges. 
The guy who broke into north shore hospital: not charged. 
The passenger in the car taking the black power gang associate to the Waikato who crossed the Auckland border and then didn't return to Auckland: not charged    
Makes no difference if you increase the fines if you don’t plan to use the fines does it?   
   
You want to really crack down on rule breakers?  
Send in the cops in.  
If you’ve got the whole suburb of clover park in South Auckland now required to be tested, then you’ve potentially got massive rule breaking going on there. 
Why not patrol the streets?   
If you’ve got police and health apparently tracking down 50+ mongrel mob members to urgently test them then you’ve got multiple bubble breaches.  
Why not park some cops outside the gang pads and make sure they stay home?   
This is not something I’m making up.  This is essentially what Des Gorman was suggesting on this show a week ago.  That if you want a failing lockdown to work, you need to consider increasing enforcement.   
   
We can all see how much rule breaking is clearly going on here.   
But none of us can see the authorities on the ground trying to stop it.   
So increasing the fines?  That’s not fooling me, and I’m not sure how many people it will fool.   
It’s just nonsense.