Anti-virus measures are too late to stop needless sickness and economic pain
OPINION: I’m not a lawyer or legal expert, but what I do know is that your rights to freedom of movement and assembly have been impinged by an incompetent Government that has put tens of thousands of lives at risk.
Sorry, I’m not buying into the “we must support our Government in times of crisis” myth. On the contrary, every single decision needs to be questioned and challenged if necessary – now more than ever.
So why is our Government incompetent? Let’s start with the obvious. On February 3 the Government implemented “temporary entry restrictions into New Zealand on all foreign nationals travelling from, or transiting through mainland China to assist with the containment of the novel coronavirus and to protect New Zealand and the Pacific Islands from the disease”.
This was the time for a blanket ban on all entries except for New Zealanders, who should have been tested for coronavirus on arrival and then quarantined – not isolated – until clearance was given from the lab.
At that time of the temporary entry restrictions from China, anyone who was closely monitoring the situation knew what was coming our way if we didn’t shut down our borders immediately.
My colleague, who has been enthusiastically doing his own modelling of Covid-19 since January, was telling all who would listen that we need to shut down our borders. My wife’s 100-year-old grandmother, a retired medical doctor, said the same thing about the same time. She wasn’t born when the Spanish flu kicked off, but she’s old enough to remember the horror stories of it.
I also knew that we should have closed our borders – lots of people knew it and you didn’t need letters after or before your name to have figured that out. It’s quite simple really: When there’s an infectious disease and it starts to spread to other countries, you close the borders.
But we didn’t. Instead, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern left the gates wide open and made one shocking decision after another.
An example is the health checks, including temperature checks, our PM ordered for all travellers flying to the Pacific Islands – police and Customs were on hand to assist. However, at the same time, visitors to New Zealand could continue to just waltz on through – the PM did not order health checks on arrivals, none whatsoever. Perhaps Ardern momentarily thought she was the prime minister of the Pacific Islands and not New Zealand?
Meanwhile, coronavirus was walking through the international arrival gates.
So, why didn’t our Government close the borders back in February? I fear it was a decision based on economics. In other words, sacrifice some of our elderly and other New Zealanders with health problems to keep the country economically afloat. Or perhaps it has more to do with the reactive rather than proactive philosophy of our Government. Either way is terrible.
Yes, our Government’s approach has been reactive – no-one can deny it based on its approach to date. We had a head start to stop this disease from entering our country, but our Government thought it would deal with it by reacting to this disease once it arrived. By doing so, it has put tens of thousands of lives at risk. Can you see how that’s not a good plan?
After all, prevention is better than cure.
This situation could have been avoided if the PM had shut down our borders weeks ago. Yes, New Zealand would have suffered economically, but we would be coronavirus-free and we wouldn’t be in lockdown. Instead, we will now watch this disease spread to thousands of New Zealanders and people will die – and we will still suffer economically.
Interestingly, iwi across the country have announced they’re putting up road checkpoints to prevent tourists from spreading the disease. Former MP Hone Harawira said:”If we don’t start seriously restricting people coming into our territory our people will die. I’m talking about all people, not just Māori. If you’re from here our job is to do what we can to protect your future.”
Love him or loathe him, that’s leadership.
Too bad our PM didn’t do the same thing for our country when it would have made a difference. People are going to die. But at least she still gives a smile here and there at her daily updates to the media. Smiles and hugs make it better, right? No, don’t hug anyone unless that person is in your household.
Make the most of home detention, folks. Let’s hope the ankle bracelets can come off in four weeks. Here’s counting.
Steve Elers is a senior lecturer at Massey University, who writes a weekly column for Stuff on social and cultural issues
saved for posterity on instructions from DifferentPerspective.
Well done to the Ed for posting this! I strongly suspect this article will ‘disappear’ from our MSM once Labour Party HQ get wind of it….
Yep, it’s the gulag for someone.
From my facebook feed:
Crack up tonight everyone lined up 2m apart rule at our Countdown (classified essential travel). Everyone had masks & adhere to guidelines. Chilling in the line making small talk from 2m away.
Then! Police speed up in cars, don’t park, jump out start questioning the line 😮😮😮 the fulla cop reckons “here for some shopping are yah?” his pen & pad out… what a thick question numbnutz! 😂🤣😂 Ummmm nah bro I js like standing in these 2m apart lines outside in the cold! Then he goes “name, where do you live? local? what your address?” WT@#$%&!!! These fullas was serious had a paddy wagon and everything!
Nek minut!!! Across the road, strait out front all these clowns js walking around jogging 🤯🤯🤯 told the cop “bro go arrest them & leave us to our essential travel for food”. Cop reckons “No they’re allowed to walk for health reason”. I js thort man you’re dumb! I didn’t get why the big shake down at the supermarket & leave the walkers/runners going by?!
Respect the Police js doing a job. But still…
They check point out side town wea Silverdale Rd and Matangi rd headed towards Morrisville they check everyone arrested couple of people and asking me name wea I going and the 50 other dumb question only they didn’t ask was may I c your license out of all the 50 questions he didn’t ask than one 😂🤣
The manner in which this was handled was rude… BUT.. if you had the story behind why they were called, it may help you understand why the police were there and in such force. Customers went in full force and not one of them prior to you going in would adhere to the rules. The rules were clearly given to only go out for essential items, One person per family etc People didnt want to listen they went in with whole families and children, coughing and sneezing everywhere. I know this info because I work here and the staff are quiet fed up with rude inconsiderate people. Hence why they were called.
This lockdown wont work if people dont stick to the rules. It’s to SAVE LIVES!!!! And yes we are allowed to go for walks/runs!!!! 2 meters apart!
we were in accordance with rules. There was 15+ in our shopping line & 2m apart. There is spacing on the ground. Granted there was an elderly couple in the line but they weren’t questioned. Only the single shoppers were questioned & it was startling & quite intimidating. It was not necessary for shoppers obviously sticking to the rules & singularly in line 2m apart. The Countdown was very calm completely & no volatile customers or groups inside. From 1st glance inside everything was calm & rules followed at checkouts. Police were too heavy handed in this instance & no cause for. Power to the walkers/runners, but they were walking next to each other & holding hands, was my point to the cop. Expect way better from Police in future!
there was zero commotion at this incident in or out doors. It was a simple shake down. It may occurred at a separate Countdown somewhere. But the whole time the cops js questioned us outside in line who where so quiet, content & waiting. After checking us all they left. There was no incident, it was a routine check at that time. Maybe they were testing protocols for a really bad situation in future. But no unsafe situation were happening at this time inside or outside. But better to be safe than sorry i think – that’s as much grace as I’d give these police who were rude & intimidating!
Give something for police to do but leave people alone that are abiding by all the rules
Now if plod continues on this intimidation of our cuzzies, we will have more than a few pissed off people.
Message to the Police. Please ramp up the intimidation big time. There is an election looming and we want as many people pissed off with the government as possible. Here is a link to some uniforms you might like as alternatives during this time…
https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GCEV_enNZ824NZ824&q=ss+nazi+uniforms&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjjlIfP1rvoAhWT8HMBHR94BTAQsAR6BAgKEAE&biw=1536&bih=722
Seig Heil General-feldmarschall Arderne!
A lefty rubbing salt into the wounds!
Don’t you love it.
Please editor, can we not have our senses assaulted with pics of this incompetent bitch? I would rather look at cats arse, close up.
No. Soon they will be collectors items. It is a running record for posterity of how much she will have deteriorated so fast over such a short time. Those lawnmowers will be taking their toll.
I’ll supply the pictures of the cats’ arses….
It’s time everyone woke up.
This is a direct result of political and media led hysteria. I have warned about from the very start.
It’s just a fucking flu. The mitigation is devastating.
“It’s just a fucking flu.”
It *should* be a really good **training exercise** for when the world next gets a *really* nasty pandemic (bound to be a flu virus).
However, the government has completed stuffed up the golden opportunity and has made a cluster-fuck out of everything.
Stuff must be heavily moderating the comments.
After 3 hours not one is posted. Either no one agrees with the article or all the comments are crapping all over Cindy and the COL.
The way to piss off your readership. Nice one Stuff. Keep it up.
Just received a posting from the school thanking all the teachers for the wonderful work they’re doing setting work for students who aren’t there. What else would they be doing? The work is set anyway (and it’s minimal – highlighting how much of the school day is wasted), there aren’t any kids, and teachers have all gone home on full pay.
What really sickens me are the scores of sycophantic arse-licking parents who have taken the trouble to add their own greasy little comments just to get their moments post in the sun.
Are we really a such a nation of non-thinkers?
Unfortunately, yes. Many have been dumbed down over the years, even the actual dumb ones.
You’re lucky. Stonefields Primary and Selwyn College have both gone: “Fuckit, school holiday” from last week. If we had something like “School of the Air” we’d be much better off
These unionised teachers seem to think they’re doing society a favour but, but, but they are paid to teach! I suppose they are nervous as many parents will be privy to homework and see their marxist climate-warming claptrap upfront?
Cadwallader, It runs deeper than that.
Professors across the country are taking to social media to express their concern over being forced to deliver their course lectures online amid the coronavirus outbreak, …..
…… Farris asked how Gunter was working to ensure her lectures are not made public, to which Gunter responded with one tip for her colleague. ……
https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=14563
These professors, education departments, etc., seem to be full deviousness, to hide what they are really teaching, that is the slant of how they put things to young people.
What can be so concerning in what they want to teach, that has to be hidden from parents, and the general public.
Is it that what they teach can not stand up to questions, scrutiny, so maybe far from the truth.
It seems that their teachers certificates should be revoked, and then to have nothing to do with young people!
Breaking News – A drug to mitigate Covid 19
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/03/huge-second-french-study-by-dr-raoult-finds-hydroxychloroquine-and-azithromycin-helped-every-patient-in-study-group-of-80-minus-one-video/
The Don was right all along.
Another promising development is collecting plasma from recovered cov19 patients to harvest antibodies to treat or prevent the illness in others. If successful it could come sooner than a regular vaccine.
Hooton: Why we can trust Ardern to get us through this Beating virus will require the sort of powers more usually associated with communism.
We’re so fucked, my friends.
Not if we ALL pushback. These cnuts can get fucked. Liarbor should not even be in power.
I’ll throttle that drunk midget if I ever get my hands on him.
” GO EARLY GO HARD” Like everything Ardern attempts a fucking joke and a lie, just another slogan starting way back with “LETS DO THIS”.
Trump stopped all Chinese from going to the U S in January and was called a racist and xenophobe.
Sorry folks but our leadership has let the country down badly, people coming back into the country couldn’t believe how slack our border security was,FFS it was reported on even on our leftie hack msm many times.
I am shocked that we were doing health checks on people heading the islands, but not people arriving in NZ?
So there were temperature checks happening – but only for people exiting?
Implies they suspected the virus was here (like we all did) and didn’t want a bad story of more Polynesian health systems groaning under the weight of diseases mismanaged by NZ.
Did others here hear that we stated doing some temperature checks for arrivals at AK airport a couple of days ago?
I only heard on the radio, but would be keen to confirm.
Every action taken is, if not too little, consistently too late.
It seems NZ policy is being driven by media pressure & the public fear level at least as much as expert advice.
As I said in another forum – a bit of “coronavirus maths”……..
Let’s assume 20,000 people per week arrive in our foolishly-open airports = roughly 1,000 per day into AKL, WLG, CHC.
Assume that 1 in 100 of them has the virus and is not showing symptoms.
That is *200* people per week coming in and adding to the infected total.
Dear Cindy – time to bugger off back to your fish-and-chip shop, honeybuns……….