New Zealand

[Abnormal Palm]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-52436658

After several days of single-figure reported cases, NZ have effectively 'eliminated' the virus for the time being.

Their early, clearly communicated, tight lockdown seems to have now paid off. I also really like the message:

"We are opening up the economy, but we're not opening up people's social lives."

Must be a great feeling to be in NZ right now, and it seems that Oz is also heading for a pretty positive outcome to this first major spike. Heartwarming stuff, to be honest, and a glimpse of what could have been had we done the same.

Obviously, unless our government is strong enough to say that's also our end goal and we're not going anywhere until we reach that point, we will simply have to adopt the mindset that people die early and that working in a supermarket is a high-risk profession.

If only we had locked down earlier and bought ourselves time to make difficult decisions.

[BlodwynPig]

1 dead today

[evilcommiedictator]

Australia has double the number of people than New York on a continent the size of a small moon, that helps, but also state governments stood up and shamed the federal one away from herd immunity, lol

[Bence Fekete]

Got a friend out there and she can only say good things about Ardern.

Must make a difference that, during a crisis, having a leader you can trust to make big decisions. Imagine.

[buntyman]

I'm in NZ these days. Seems to have been managed well although maybe the lockdown's been a bit extreme given how few cases there have been and I think there'll be a lot of little shops and restaurants out of business as a result. Difficult to know how bad it could have got though. Haven't seen anyone deliberately disobeying the rules, being a dick or even complaining really over the last month or so. A pretty positive, optimistic bunch of people in general, not what I'm used to at all. Nice to have CaB to maintain some equilibrium.

[greencalx]

Presumably they plan never to allow anyone to enter or leave the country.

[dissolute ocelot]

Got a friend out there and she can only say good things about Ardern.

When your coalition partners are racists it probably makes it easier to lock down the country's borders.

[Abnormal Palm]

Difficult to know how bad it could have got though.

Just look at any European country for your answer.

[poo]

Better government, but favourable geography mostly.

[Mr Farenheit]

Just look at any European country for your answer.

When you compare Europe or USA with how other countries have handled it you have to think a lot of it was preventable.

I live in Vietnam, it has a bigger population than the UK but more people per square kilometre and 10% of the GDP. So far there have been 270 cases total during the whole thing and no deaths at all. In Saigon, which has a similar population to London, there is now literally one person with covid-19.

You can argue there are some mitigating factors but I think its mainly its down to government realising "This sounds like it could be serious, maybe we should take it seriously". Which is kind of what governements are for you would think.

So they had the communist equivalent of Cobra meetings and a coronavirus steering group set up before there were any cases at all, schools all closed when cases were in single figures. Flights from Wuhan, China, Europe/USA banned in that order. The 'lockdown' was actuallly pretty light but the secret sauce might have been quarantining every cunt (including me!) who'd had any chance of whatsoever of coming anywhere near someone with the virus. A few weeks ago for example they diagnosed a Swedish tourist with the virus- they published his full itenerary of the last 2 weeks, asking anyone to come forward who might have been in the same places (or report someone else who had!). Within a day and a half they'd rounded up 100 people with potentital direct contact, and another 200 who had contact with the first 100- like a fucking manhunt.

Of course if the country opens airports to international flights (you can now take domestic flights again btw) it'll just start creeping up again so I don't think countries can claim they've 'eliminated' it unless they want to be North Korea. But when you hear things like 'no one could have expected this', or 'hindsights a wonderful thing' in countries with thousands of deaths it makes the blood boil a bit.

[Absorb the anus burn]

^^^

Thank you... Brilliant post.

[Abnormal Palm]

Amen. Great post, and why I was screaming for lockdown weeks before we did it.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Finding this hard to believe TBH seeing as NZ have a literal saint in charge :(

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/11/new-zealand-records-first-new-covid-19-cases-in-102-days

[Bernice]

I'm off to get a dustpan, for my worldview has been shattered.

[jobotic]

Finding this hard to believe TBH seeing as NZ have a literal saint in charge :(

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/11/new-zealand-records-first-new-covid-19-cases-in-102-days

You really are a fucking prick aren't you?

[Non Stop Dancer]

I suspect he just can't help himself, sadly. A ban would be the kindest thing because he's not going to stop of his own accord. It's no way to live really is it, just spending your days specifically trying to upset people all the time.

[Paulie Walnuts]

A ban would be the kindest thing

sorry, but your application for forum mod is declined :(

are we only allowed to post news that fits your narrative guys?

[Chedney Honks]

After several days of single-figure reported cases, NZ have effectively 'eliminated' the virus for the time being.

You leave school at eleven buddy?

[Non Stop Dancer]

sorry, but your application for forum mod is declined :(

are we only allowed to post news that fits your narrative guys?

If your output here is truly in line with your world view, try to say something thoughtful and persuasive about it. What you do now is just sad, and everyone can see it.

[idunnosomename]

Jacinda Arden is a competent and intelligent woman, quite the opposite of our bumbling bozza. She was very quick to act and has engendered a lot of trust from her country.

But she's very status quo centrist. She's less progressive than Obama.

Funny though how this means any admiration of her handling of Covid ends up with OMG YOU THINK SHES A LITERAL SAINT UBLIBTARD? YOU GONA MARRY HER??? HAHA GAY

[bgmnts]

You really are a fucking prick aren't you?

https://youtu.be/nwipdk6-_NY

[Fambo Number Mive]

Meanwhile 1148 cases reported in the UK today. NZ still doing much better than us.

[idunnosomename]

if you go on pure population, NZ has 5m, we have 67m, so 4 cases for them is like 180 cases for us


LO LL gay libtardS

[Dex Sawash]

Jacinda Arden is a competent and intelligent woman,

THEN WHY IS SOMEONE SICK?

[jobotic]

Meanwhile 1148 cases reported in the UK today. NZ still doing much better than us.

Finding this hard to believe TBH seeing as UK have a literal god in charge :(

[Non Stop Dancer]

Finding this hard to believe TBH seeing as UK have a literal god in charge :(

Really shows how facile his point is doesn't it. He should be embarrassed.

[idunnosomename]

THEN WHY IS SOMEONE SICK?

gay libtards

[Birdie]

Well anyway...

Family of four confirmed cases including a toddler.  Another four probable cases linked to those.

So the whole of Auckland has gone to level three (essential travel only, 'boarder' closed, only allowed to fly in if you're returning home, businesses and schools closed) and the rest of us are level 2 - for three days initially.

It was announced at 9 pm to take effect at midday and some Aucklanders went a bit nuts at the supermarkets and some tried to leave the city for holiday homes but were turned back.  But on the whole people seem ok - although no one believes it will be for three days.

Also Ardern is not a saint.  That would be Ashley Bloomfield, DG of Health.

[pcsjwgm]

It's bizarre that the right are so eager to give Ardern a kicking given the record of Trump, Johnson, and Bolsonaro.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/08/wrong-ardern-slams-trump-zealand-virus-claim-200818054008412.html

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Once you understand the PR strategy, not so bizarre.

It's all about sewing doubt, even the vaguest glimmer of doubt, obfuscation, diversion. Nothing true or false exists, every possibility exists in everybody's minds, and in doing so the gap between the invalid and the valid narrows.

That's what this and the other thousand incidents have all been about.