Coronavirus - New Zealand
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Throughout this whole process since February, it's beggared belief how hard it is to get tested for Covid/how easy it is to not get tested for it.
Which moron thought it was a good idea not to test these two before letting them out early on compassionate leave?
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@taniwharugby said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:
@Stargazer I wish I had your confidence this is a storm in a tea cup (and hope it is)
There are plenty of people along the way they could have been exposed to, what about all those on the plane with them? Border Control, quarantine staff, who used the car after them?
Plenty of touch points that pose a risk.
Hopefully it is a storm in a tea cup but is the scare our border control needs to up thier game!
Can't avoid all that stuff though unless we wotally shut the border, even to citizens. That's never going to happen.
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@Donsteppa said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:
Throughout this whole process since February, it's beggared belief how hard it is to get tested for Covid/how easy it is to not get tested for it.
Which moron thought it was a good idea not to test these two before letting them out early on compassionate leave?
Well since the special treatment for the drug dealer mate of Cindy's, the question has to be asked do they know anybody in government?
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@voodoo said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:
@taniwharugby said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:
@Stargazer I wish I had your confidence this is a storm in a tea cup (and hope it is)
There are plenty of people along the way they could have been exposed to, what about all those on the plane with them? Border Control, quarantine staff, who used the car after them?
Plenty of touch points that pose a risk.
Hopefully it is a storm in a tea cup but is the scare our border control needs to up thier game!
Can't avoid all that stuff though unless we wotally shut the border, even to citizens. That's never going to happen.
Yes we can, for the time being, with a 14 day quarantine.
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@taniwharugby said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:
@voodoo yeah we can, we test everyone when they arrive and they remain in isolation.
Have to assume our people working at the borders and quarantine facilities have PPE while also being tested?
We can't stop returning citizens infecting other passengers or crew or border control. We just can't.
You've assumed PPE is effective, and it may be, but I don't think that's proved completely.
Quarantine can test whether anyone has the disease, it doesn't prevent them getting it in the first place.
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@taniwharugby said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:
@voodoo yeah we can, we test everyone when they arrive and they remain in isolation.
Have to assume our people working at the borders and quarantine facilities have PPE while also being tested?
I'd assume little beyond dumb luck, given what we're hearing today...
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@taniwharugby said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:
@Stargazer I wish I had your confidence this is a storm in a tea cup (and hope it is)
There are plenty of people along the way they could have been exposed to, what about all those on the plane with them? Border Control, quarantine staff, who used the car after them?
Plenty of touch points that pose a risk.
Hopefully it is a storm in a tea cup but is the scare our border control needs to up thier game!
I wonder if they stopped for gas along the way.....?
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@voodoo well no, but we can mitigate the risk of those coming into NZ form transmitting this disease any further than the border.
As of right now, it appears things seem pretty relaxed at the border and in some of the quarantine facilities.
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@voodoo said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:
@taniwharugby said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:
@voodoo yeah we can, we test everyone when they arrive and they remain in isolation.
Have to assume our people working at the borders and quarantine facilities have PPE while also being tested?
We can't stop returning citizens infecting other passengers or crew or border control. We just can't.
You've assumed PPE is effective, and it may be, but I don't think that's proved completely.
Quarantine can test whether anyone has the disease, it doesn't prevent them getting it in the first place.
Which is my point, because of that quarantine is the only effective way of stopping it coming in through the border. Letting people out early in that instance is criminal.
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@taniwharugby As I said, they expected more cases from overseas. The contact with people before, during and just after travel (up until the managed isolation facility), that's what they prepared for. Contact tracing (including alerting authorities in Brisbane and the UK) & testing.
The only thing that is different in this case is the exceptional circumstances which led them to get compassionate leave to exit the facility early and before they were tested. (Note that the stricter testing rules came into effect when we dropped to Level 1. This happened under Level 2.)
But there was a plan in place that provided for organised travel in a private vehicle (it belongs to a family member), testing in Wellington and going into self-isolation at the family member's home.
And, the obvious thing, hygiene standards that include washing your hands more often and not touching your face, should still be followed.
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@Donsteppa said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:
Throughout this whole process since February, it's beggared belief how hard it is to get tested for Covid/how easy it is to not get tested for it.
Which moron thought it was a good idea not to test these two before letting them out early on compassionate leave?
You know what Don? Compassion is overrated in this case. There was bugger all compassion for thousands of people who suffered all sorts of hardships during a protracted lockdown, but somehow these are special cases. As are Jon Landau and his film crew, and the Americas Cup teams. If it's OK that @voodoo couldn't even get onto the same island as his sick Mum then it's OK that these women stay in isolation until it's clear they don't have the virus.
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@Tim said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:
If the media doesn't go for the jugular over this then there is no point to their existence.
This is criminal.
It's interesting though, because there have been others let out for compassionate reasons over the last month. And lots of sob stories in the press. And I wonder what the public consensus on those cases was at the time, I actually think fairly sympathetic. Rightly or wrongly.
But I suspect that once we got to zero cases and a L1 society, people are less sympathetic towards any compassion
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@Stargazer said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:
@taniwharugby As I said, they expected more cases from overseas. The contact with people before, during and just after travel (up until the managed isolation facility), that's what they prepared for. Contact tracing (including alerting authorities in Brisbane and the UK) & testing.
The only thing that is different in this case is the exceptional circumstances which led them to get compassionate leave to exit the facility early and before they were tested. (Note that the stricter testing rules came into effect when we dropped to Level 1. This happened under Level 2.)
But there was a plan in place that provided for organised travel in a private vehicle (it belongs to a family member), testing in Wellington and going into self-isolation at the family member's home.
And, the obvious thing, hygiene standards that include washing your hands more often and not touching your face, should still be followed.
Then what was the point of the lockdown?
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@voodoo said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:
@Tim said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:
If the media doesn't go for the jugular over this then there is no point to their existence.
This is criminal.
It's interesting though, because there have been others let out for compassionate reasons over the last month. And lots of sob stories in the press. And I wonder what the public consensus on those cases was at the time, I actually think fairly sympathetic. Rightly or wrongly.
But I suspect that once we got to zero cases and a L1 society, people are less sympathetic towards any compassion
Particularly as the reality of the damage that the lockdown has caused people becomes more apparant. Where is the empathy for those people?
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@voodoo said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:
I wonder how far off effective border testing on arrival actually is? Something immediate (24hrs max) that we can actually trust
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From this media release:New Zealanders are today enjoying their first day of Level 1 and there's good news that the numbers remain unchanged.
Addressing the move to Level 1, the Director-General of Health has spoken to topics of importance.
"Foremost of these is for me to stress the ongoing importance of the border at Level 1 and how it must function as our “safety net” in protecting New Zealand in the global environment," says Dr Ashley Bloomfield.
"With this priority, tighter controls are being placed on those coming into New Zealand at the border – controls we are making to keep New Zealanders safe from COVID-19 entering the country.
"People entering New Zealand are already required to stay in managed isolation or quarantine for at least 14 days.
"Firstly, from today everyone in managed isolation will be tested twice for COVID-19 and will require a negative result before they leave. Those in quarantine were already being tested, as they had shown prior symptoms.
"Secondly, under Alert Level 2, 142 exemptions from managed isolation were approved on compassionate grounds for people to attend funerals, tangihanga or visit a dying loved one (181 such applications were declined – usually where applicants were not able to provide a workable plan for allowing the exemption to go ahead safely).
"From today people in managed isolation will no longer be able to apply for exemptions to attend funerals and tangihanga.
"They will still be able to apply for compassionate leave to be with a small group of loved ones before or after a funeral or tangihanga, but not to attend the actual event. People in quarantine have never been able to attend such events.
"We're making this change because someone who has potentially been exposed overseas now poses a greater risk wider spread of COVID-19 at large gatherings.
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So, the above applied from the start of Level 1. Today's case is about two people who were granted an exemption under level 2. -
@JC said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:
@Stargazer said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:
@taniwharugby As I said, they expected more cases from overseas. The contact with people before, during and just after travel (up until the managed isolation facility), that's what they prepared for. Contact tracing (including alerting authorities in Brisbane and the UK) & testing.
The only thing that is different in this case is the exceptional circumstances which led them to get compassionate leave to exit the facility early and before they were tested. (Note that the stricter testing rules came into effect when we dropped to Level 1. This happened under Level 2.)
But there was a plan in place that provided for organised travel in a private vehicle (it belongs to a family member), testing in Wellington and going into self-isolation at the family member's home.
And, the obvious thing, hygiene standards that include washing your hands more often and not touching your face, should still be followed.
Then what was the point of the lockdown?
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Preventing community spread of existing cases. -
@Stargazer said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:
So, the above applied from the start of Level 1. Today's case is about two people who were granted an exemption under level 2.
Doesnt make it anymore palatable when Dr. Bloomfield says this.
"Foremost of these is for me to stress the ongoing importance of the border at Level 1 and how it must function as our “safety net” in protecting New Zealand in the global environment," says Dr Ashley Bloomfield.