To think people need to stop comparing the UK and New Zealand?

[RaspberryCoulis]

We have a population of 66.5 million, they have 4.9 million.

We have an area of 240,000 sq km, they have 270,000 sq km. (So less than 10% of the population in a bigger area).

Their biggest city has 1.5 million people. London has 9 million people. Their next biggest city, Christchurch, is smaller than Birmingham, Glasgow, Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Edinburgh and Leicester.

And they're 2000 miles from their nearest big neighbour. (Australia). We're joined onto one country (Ireland) and 2000 miles from London takes in all of Western Europe, Iceland, a good chunk of Eastern Europe and a bit of North Africa.

So can we stop with the silly comparisons now?

It would be just as illuminating to compare apples and oranges, but its interesting why Germany never gets a mention on here when talking about countries that have suffered badly.

All of Europe is wonderful, doncha know

Yes. No mention of Macrons woeful immunisation attempt either. I wonder if there are 'people from NZ' on French forums saying how much they are laughing at France for being so incompetent, or at Australia for having a failed vaccine?

@Helendee

It’s mid-summer in NZ right now so it will interesting to see what happens there when winter falls regarding new cases and has the more easily transmitted variant arrived there yet?

The new variant has arrived but has been contained in the mandatory isolation hotels.

We’ve already been through a winter and because new cases were contained there was no community spread, except in Auckland which was quickly stamped out.

@MrsMiaWallis No one in NZ is laughing at how badly the UK is doing. Many of us have family and loved ones in Europe. We looking on in horror. It's heartbreaking.

Sorry. I'm sure not everyone is. To be honest, it's mainly people from the UK who love to froth over how shit it all is here.

@MrsMiaWallis NZers feel only sympathy for the UK. 1000 daily deaths is absolutely horrifying and I don’t know anyone who would laugh at that.

One thing I do wonder, in NZ, do they have one group of people screaming everyone stay home and another group of people screaming that they’re the exception abd need to go on holiday abroad, need to go see x, y, z

Groups of people who decide to go on protests during pandemic

One group of people demanding their children go to school because private school children are at an advantage, getting ahead and even have a group of people starting a legal case to open the schools while then also conversely having a group of people demanding schools close, teachers strike

Do you see a pattern? No matter what our government advises (and people on mumsnet have actually written that if the guidance uses the word “should” you don’t have to follow it) So many selfish people who just don’t get that the rules apply to them and the reason for them is to protect us - protecting us the general population - which also includes the NHS that takes care of us.

Look back at the threads since this all started. Can I go on holiday, how in fair it is

Can I do this, can I do that, I’m not going to follow the rules, or the “you do you don’t worry about” that person breaking the rules with having large parties this that or the other thing. It goes all over the place. There are even threads in why the vaccine is being given to elderly and vulnerable before being given to teachers (tea her who don’t fall into the vulnerable category clearly). I’ve even seen a petition going around for thst.

So before we compare the leadership of NZ and say they have got it right, maybe we all need to look at ourselves and our friends and our neighbours. Make it socially unacceptable to wear your mask under your chin or under your nose,

Make it socially unacceptable when you see people doing things that continues to put us all at risk. Say something.

don’t gather in large groups indoor or outdoor

USE YOUR F—— G COMMON SENSE we know how this spreads.

stop pushing the boundaries of safety. It’s not just your safety but it is everyone’s safety

Sorry, rant over but the whinging of blaming the government really pisses me off when it’s all these stupid, selfish people who continue to push the rules and then spread it to others.

@Riapia

One thing that is undeniable is that the countries with the best record of dealing with COVID have all had women leaders.

I'd say that the Isle of Man has done well. 'Howard' doesn't sound like a woman's name. Likewise plenty of countries in the Far East.

As for Germany, it isn't over until...

@planningaheadtoday @SueDeNimm

Hong Kong has a low rate largely because it has incredibly strict quarantine rules which involve (assuming you test negative on arrival) being issued an electronic wrist tag so the government can monitor your movements and then isolating alone in a hotel room for 2 (now 3) weeks. At your own cost. If you remove the tag or leave your hotel room, you are sent to prison. If you test positive on arrival you are sent to a government quarantine camp in the New Territories. Which is also basically prison but for COVID positive people.

It’s effective but let’s be clear, civil liberties are very different here so I don’t think its fair to draw a comparison between UK and HK.

Source: have lived in Hong Kong for 10 years

Think the truth lies somewhere in between from the UK being a total disaster to NZ method being the exact model to follow.

New Zealand did lock down early, but also put people into strict quarantine when arriving into the country, even for its own citizens arriving into the country.

When asked during the first lockdown why visitors into the UK weren't being monitored, one of the experts, Dr Jenny Harries said that there wouldn't be any point as the person may not be exhibiting symptoms, and yet still be contagious.

In other words, instead of doing something they did nothing.

What @SaltyTootsieToes said.

The whingeing of British people - and indeed MNetters has really depressed me. And believe me, I have a few things to whinge about.

I have been astonished at how selfish some people are, and how nothing is ever good enough.

@FeelTheRush I know it's not like for like. But I think it illustrates well how important following rules and having quarantine is for all entering the UK.

I have friends working in Hong Kong and I've never been so grateful that they are being kept safe out there.

@DdraigGoch

@twistedsistersocks

It's a different country, spread out, with a smaller and generally less dense population.

Are you suggesting that uk residents are dense or just the politicians

The spread of covid is governed by two key factors.

1. How dense the population is.
2. How dense the population are.

To the PP who mentioned Scott Morrison- he hasn't really been running the show at a ground level. The state premiers have been much more forceful, in particular Gladys for NSW and Anastasia for QLD. Again two strong female leaders who have communicated well and are doing the right thing for their people.

Absolutely. In SA we pretty much just ignore our premier Stephen Marshall and wait for Nicola Spurrier to tell us what to do (our Chief Public Health Officer). She's excellent.

@IrmaFayLear

I wonder what the Press/media is like in New Zealand.

the Press here has been nothing short of shameful. And as for social media... When this whole thing started I agree that borders should have been closed/flights stopped straightaway - but oh, no. "Racist!!!!" was the cry about stopping flights from China. And then "Restrictions to freedom!" about skiing trips to Italy.

Anyone remember the couple stuck on the cruise ship in Japan? They and their family were bleating about being quarantined abroad and the son was on breakfast tv asking for Air Force 1 to fetch them!

Hindsight is a wonderful thing and maybe we would have been better off with closed borders, but at the time there would have been outrage.

No Murdoch media in NZ so press is able to report rather than drive an agenda. Almost all media took a voluntary pay cut for the first 12 weeks of what was a relentless news story that of course affected them personally and professionally. There is a sense of unity. (Now reimbursed as damage was less than predicted)

Two big international players pulled out of the media market right when support was most needed, local players stepped in. This further changed the tone of coverage.

@ilovemydogandMrObama

Think the truth lies somewhere in between from the UK being a total disaster to NZ method being the exact model to follow.

New Zealand did lock down early, but also put people into strict quarantine when arriving into the country, even for its own citizens arriving into the country.

When asked during the first lockdown why visitors into the UK weren't being monitored, one of the experts, Dr Jenny Harries said that there wouldn't be any point as the person may not be exhibiting symptoms, and yet still be contagious.

In other words, instead of doing something they did nothing.

Initially arrivees were trusted to quarantine at home but many breached the agreement so state quarantine became mandatory.

@Miramour - Think state quarantine worked, or at least was one of the factors that allowed NZ to control Covid, but hearing from NZ friends, that there is way more community spirit there.

Apparently the NZ PM has offered to advise the incoming Biden administration on containing/controlling Covid; an offer I very much hope is taken up, so I can visit family in California!!!

If you actively control the spread then population size and density doesn't really matter so much

YABU

[quote ilovemydogandMrObama]@Miramour - Think state quarantine worked, or at least was one of the factors that allowed NZ to control Covid, but hearing from NZ friends, that there is way more community spirit there.

Apparently the NZ PM has offered to advise the incoming Biden administration on containing/controlling Covid; an offer I very much hope is taken up, so I can visit family in California!!![/quote]
Me too and not. least for family in California and New York.

I studied the covid responses...one of the most powerful tools in the New Zealand pandemic management kit was the brilliance of messaging - brief, clear and positive. Stay Home, Save Lives = you have a role to play, even if just by staying home.
The messaging was chalked into footpaths, and fences, lit up on digital boards on locked school gates, flashing on motorways, constantly ticking across the bottom of the TV screen, posted through letterboxes.

Unite Against Covid 19= we're in it together,
we've got this .
Be Safe, Be Kind. = you're cared about, it's worth caring for others.

The USA meanwhile delivered a sobering example of the sheer danger of an ego-driven leadership. Fear, denial, confusion and chaos for 330M people. Hundreds of thousands dead. Financial carnage.

'Apparently the NZ PM has offered to advise the incoming Biden administration on containing/controlling Covid; an offer I very much hope is taken up, so I can visit family in California!!!'

You're joking. A leader of a country of 5m thinks they have anything to offer the president of a country of 332m? As I said on the other thread good that NZ are having an easy time but please don't think having a small pop, spread out in isolated islands with easily closed borders has any relevance to the US. Remember Trump did infact ban flights from China in the early days and from Europe, doesn't work if it is a high flow travel hub.

Has a username ever been so ironic, @GetOffYourHighHorse? Probably, but you get a commendation.

Absolutely agree, OP. They're totally incomparable.

@MrsMiaWallis - I've not heard one person in NZ laughing at the UK, or anywhere else. What a nasty thing to say.