Covid Watch

I assume most of us got the same e-mail; the supermarkets aren't coping.
The promises are not coming to pass, deliveries are off, you need to go in person, and queue for God knows how long. If you're old, sick, infirm, or alone you can apply, like a lot of third world countries, for a dispensation. If you're one of the lucky ones you can have your groceries delivered to you. 
This is not to blame the supermarkets, any more than it is to blame the ships that aren't arriving at the ports with the things for the shelves. It's to highlight the lack of planning from last time. 
Because we were here last time, we are here again, and nowhere in the ensuing 18 months was any sort of plan developed. 
There was no need then, as there is no need now, to be as maniacal about outlets that supply basics, especially when the outlets that do the supplying simply can't cope. 
In fact, last time was slightly better, given I clearly remember having our groceries delivered. So, the fact that things have clearly gone backwards is a further indictment on our inability to see anything beyond the end of the week. 
Trouble with last time, half the stuff you ordered never turned up anyway, so maybe queuing for a couple of hours is the better option? What's changed this time, of course, is staff. They're at home self-isolating; in that is the danger. 
It's the danger Britain saw before they had Freedom Day and got on with life. The "ping-demic" was crippling British business. Too many were told to go home and wait 14 days, where for virtually all of them nothing would happen, except a case of boredom. 
We are now suffering the same fate from supermarket workers to nurses. Stuff is not getting done, even those open can't do their job. 
Eventfully, everything grinds to a halt. Operations cancelled, orders not delivered, and businesses short of staff. 
This is what you get with one of the worst vaccine rollouts in the world, and no option but to lock down. 
You are trapped. Even the most basic of services are suffocated off and we aren't even halfway through the second week of who knows how many.

New Zealand may be yet to reach its peak, in the current community outbreak of Covid-19. 
There are now at least 210 community cases -- with Ōtāhuhu College becoming the 10th Auckland school to report positive cases. 
Health officials have identified about 20-thousand contacts and are continuing to identify locations of interest. 
Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield told Mike Hosking another large number of cases will be reported in today's 1pm update.  
"They were coming through during the day yesterday so we'll expect a pretty decent number again today. They key thing is we're at that point now where over the next couple of days we'll be expecting it to peak and then to drop away." 
Bloomfield says the Delta strain remains extremely difficult to predict. 
LISTEN ABOVE

Calls for the Government to learn the lessons of previous lockdowns when they make their decisions around this one.  
The transport industry is frustrated at road-blocks holding up freight, and dates for expired warrants of fitness not being automatically extended.
Road Transport Forum Chief Executive Nick Leggett told Kate Hawkesby the decision-makers aren't helping. 
"It seems as though they're gripped by this timidity, and we don't understand where it is coming from. We think this stuff should be easier the second or third time around, not harder." 
LISTEN ABOVE

The thing that should be scaring us all more than the virus right now is the information vacuum. 
Now laid stark before us, for anyone that was ever in any doubt, with the saline scandal. 
And this critical piece of information was not even offered up by the Government or the Ministry of Health, but instead revealed by the media. 
The disingenuousness of this not remotely open, honest or transparent Government should worry us all. 
The spin being peddled, the lack of honesty, the withholding of information, and the inability to admit mistakes. 
Why won't they admit they got procurement and rollout of the vaccine wrong? That mistake is going to cost us now dearly. 
Why won't they give the same data and information they gave last time? And in a timely way? Why are they hiding so much? 
Why the lack of transparency? 
According to Act, and some media sources, the Government's purposely not releasing each day's data before they get to reveal it under a spotlight at 1pm. By not releasing it when they have it, reporters have to wait until after the press conference for it to be published, this means they have less time to interpret, review it and form questions. 
It allows the Government to remain less accountable. It allows the Government to have a more captive audience at 1pm. 
David Seymour said, “Withholding that information until Ministers and Ashley Bloomfield have left the stage ensures they aren’t scrutinised on the latest information in a timely fashion, only the cherry picked ‘good news’ they choose to highlight.” 
You have to ask what sort of democracy we live in when the Government won’t allow Parliament to sit, won’t bring back the Epidemic Response Committee to be held accountable, and won’t release official information in a fair timeframe.  
Everything they're doing is based on what suits them, what they can spin to micro manage our reactions, what commands the most attention. They're banking, based on last time, on New Zealanders buying it. Will we? 
Make no mistake, the propaganda machine is in full swing.  
We are being subject to the withholding of information until it suits them to release it. 
A government choosing to be opaque on forecast vaccination delivery dates, refusing to set rollout targets, game-playing on lockdown extensions they know full well are coming, staging press conferences, not giving us the full picture when they have it, and worst of all we learned yesterday - flat out lying to us. 
Do you know their priority right now? Extensive polling around ‘best messaging’, what makes them look good in the eyes of Kiwis, how to keep us on side. They care more about how this all looks for them, rather than what it means for us. 
So you have to ask yourself, who are they actually governing for?

More evidence that our Government needs to be looking at as proof to get onto ordering some booster jabs for us down the line.  
Analysis from the Zoe Covid study in the UK has found that protection from Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccines tends to wane after six months. 
Worst-case scenario being that protection levels could fall below 50 percentfor the elderly and healthline workers, those jabbed the earliest in the UK, in just a few months. 
This wasn't a small study either - they looked at 1.2 million test results and people.   
The lead scientist for the study is Tim Spector, a Professor of Genetic Epidemiology at King’s College in London and he told Mike Hosking the Delta variant has meant that booster jabs have become even more important. 
“We were seeing nearly 90 percent protection in the early days with the previous variant, so it was surprising to see levels drop down to the mid 70s, mid 80s just after the vaccine with the Delta.” 
LISTEN ABOVE

Much discussion has been taking place around the difficulty that some students, parents, as well as teachers are facing with remote learning. 
Several principals are said to be frustrated that some kids don't have the digital devices to do remote learning. 
But it's been over a year since most schools were last in lockdown, so have Kiwi schools gotten better this time round, when it comes to online learning? 
Kami are an education technology company that helps schools do remote learning.  
Chair Bob Drummond told Kate Hawkesby schools were better prepared this time around. 
“They’ve had a lot more notice this time and people realised schools closing down was an actual thing.” 
LISTEN ABOVE 

The transport industry is after some clarity from the Government around the flow of freight.  
Differences in alert levels across the country could cause issues with trucks travelling through road blocks. 
Mainfreight Group Managing Director Don Braid told Mike Hosking they're trying to put plans in place. 
"We haven't had any consultation with the Minister of Transport about that and we wouldn't mind some of that conversation, if that is the case." 
LISTEN ABOVE

Health officials should know tomorrow whether anyone's picked up Covid during lockdown.
New Zealand had 62 new cases today bringing the outbreak total to 210.
Covid Response Minister Chris Hipkins says teams are collating data now.
He told Heather du Plessis-Allan that learning more will give everyone comfort.
LISTEN ABOVE

Fears a concerning pattern of healthcare inequity is once again being repeated.  
The Director-General of Health's confirmed more than half of the cases in New Zealand's Delta cluster are Pacific people.  
A health expert says it's depressingly familiar - with Pasifika making up 60 per cent of cases in the August 2020 outbreak.  
Consultancy firm Pacific Perspectives' director Debbie Ryan says infectious diseases disproportionately impact Pasifika, time and time again.  
She says there's abundant evidence the way health services are delivered is problematic.  
"That one size fits all approach means that our diverse communities do not get the quality of services they require." 
LISTEN ABOVE

A lifesaving surgery has been put off due to a lack of nurses at Auckland hospital. 
Chris Hunter has renal failure and was waiting for a kidney transplant scheduled for tomorrow. 
However the ADHB has now cancelled the surgery because they don’t have enough nurses to assist, as a lot of them are self-isolating. 
Chris Hunter told Mike Hosking the operation hasn’t been rescheduled yet. 
"The body's pretty much shutting down, so it's pretty devastating to be getting a call yesterday at 4 o'clock cancelling it because of the resource constraint, I just don't know what to do." 
LISTEN ABOVE