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Original poster

New Zealand has eliminated coronavirus

282 replies

Porpoises · 27/04/2020 19:33

I keep seeing posters saying "well we'll all have to catch it sooner or later". It's not true. If the government had the political will and competence, they could pursue an elimination goal.

New Zealand has eliminated coronavirus, no new cases today. They locked down early, semi-closed their borders and are aggressively testing, tracking and isolating people exposed. This means they can ease lockdown with everyone safe. They will obviously have to be vigilant in case they have missed cases, but it looks like they will succeed in getting coronavirus free.

Wish I could emigrate - but for obvious reasons they're not accepting visitors right now!

www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-asia-52436658

OP posts:
PicsInRed · 27/04/2020 22:55

They haven’t chosen it

Fine. They have elected not to overthrow the PM, storm the airport and pilot aircraft themselves.

they haven’t stranded themselves.

Fine. They have indefinitely self isolated themselves on an island nation. I mean, it's less concise, but better now?

itstrue · 27/04/2020 23:05

Wow! Amazing amount of racist statements on this thread! Pretty appalling really.

TheGreatWave · 27/04/2020 23:23

itstrue so I presume you have reported the posts with racist statements and/ or called people out on them?

TheSkyWasDark · 27/04/2020 23:30

Are the UK and New Zealand comparable though? No one has mentioned it yet.

eaglejulesk · 27/04/2020 23:43

Very unlikely. Just very low community transmission.

This is exactly it. We haven't eliminated CV19.

RandomComment · 28/04/2020 00:07

The attitude of we know best or they can’t possibly do better than us is what makes the UK a laughing stock. Countries like Taiwan or Vietnam with a big enough population has managed it very well even if they have land border or very close proximity with China. They know much more than the UK about how to deal with this kind of pandemic. Everything that they did straight away like social distancing, testing, contact tracing, wearing mask or early complete lockdown was eventually recommended by WHO. The UK government still don’t know their exist strategy is if it hits them on their head.

Turangawaewae · 28/04/2020 00:20

NZ has about the same population as Ireland and got the disease at about the same time. They have had 1100 deaths. We've had 19 to date.

Although our average population density is low, Auckland is a big city of 1.6mn with a density similar to Melbourne.

I think our current situation is an amazing achievement. Our government has listened to its experts and scientists. The modelling done has been incredibly accurate and the communications clear and simple. The original aim seemed to be to slow the spread of the virus so our health system could cope. Now we are in a situation where we can effectively eliminate it - not the same as zero cases.

Elimination

What happens next is a worry. I'm sad that I can't go to the UK if I need to. But I probably wouldn't want to expose my DC to the risk at then moment anyway. Hopefully we can open up a Aus/NZ/Pacific trading and traveling zone.

As Siouxsie Wiles says, we are building the plane as we fly it.

Inkpaperstars · 28/04/2020 04:45

I am really encouraged by what NZ had managed to do and wish them lots of luck. I think if they close to tourism until a vaccine is found then although the odd person will smuggle themselves in, test and trace should keep them safe. Locking down early, being in a spaced out low population country obviously helps.

Although you know the saying no man is an island? Well I fear in this day and age, no island is an island either. I think NZ can hopefully hang in there, they are in a good position. But..this is global and they are essentially just hanging out for a vaccine.

TheSkyWasDark · 28/04/2020 04:47

I'm kind of amazed by the negativity on this thread.

They are in a position that most countries are dreaming of. What's the alternative? A situation like the UK or US? I'll take New Zealand over that.

fallfallfall · 28/04/2020 05:07

But but but Greenland is totally covid free as well as a couple tiny island nations. Some countries are doing just fine, I believe the low population density is key.

crazydiamond222 · 28/04/2020 05:10

Most of the southern hemisphere has very low incidence of covid-19. I am not denying that NZs approach to tackling the virus was excellent however I wonder how much is linked to another factor e.g. better vitamin d levels in the population or lower transmission in warmer weather.

LorenzoStDubois · 28/04/2020 05:28

Its all fine until someone brings it back in again from overseas or internally or whatever.

TheSkyWasDark · 28/04/2020 05:32

@fallfallfall Not the case in Korea, extremely high population density, fewer than 300 deaths.

@crazydiamond Where are you getting that information from? Much of the southern hemisphere is too poor to do very efficient testing for one thing, and they lack sufficient infrastructure.

It is also all over Brazil and Indonesia. They are predicting there are going to be many more cases cropping up in Africa.

I don't think it's as simple as saying "there is not much corona in the southern hemisphere."

TheSkyWasDark · 28/04/2020 05:33

@LorenzoStDubois That's what tracking, testing and quarantining is for.

It's working in Taiwan, Korea and Vietnam. Why not NZ?

FollowYourOwnNorthStar · 28/04/2020 05:37

NZ has down an excellent job, and Australia is doing well too - 12 new cases in the last 24 hours, and this is a consistent downwards trend. The area I am in has had no new cases for 26 days now. The State Governments are all easing social restrictions even further, schools are going back in staged approaches from this week and the Federal Govt has just launched a (voluntary) app to monitor who people have been in contact with, in the event someone is diagnosed with Covid in future, it will make contact tracing much easier. Privacy concerns are being debated. There is (very early) talk of opening borders to NZ and I’m sure other countries in a similar position to us.

Whilst we can’t predict what will happen (second wave or economy-wise) or when the vaccine will come, I have cautious, cautious hope that we can move slowly to re-open and move onwards.

Reginabambina · 28/04/2020 05:44

They haven’t officially eliminated it yet have they? My state (Australia) hasn’t had new cases for what feels like ages. I don’t think it’s going to be officially considered until about a month after there are no cases at all for obvious reasons.

MrsTerryPratchett · 28/04/2020 05:45

Wow! Amazing amount of racist statements on this thread! Pretty appalling really.

Since when is 'from New Zealand' a race?

Xenophobia maybe?

I bloody love NZ, loved travelling there, love their PM and wish them all the best. Very jealous though.

eaglejulesk · 28/04/2020 06:10

Since when is 'from New Zealand' a race?

I had been wondering the same thing Smile

applepiewithicecreammmmm · 28/04/2020 06:15

A lot of you sound very angry at New Zealand. Unsure why.

NSW in Oz have had only 5 cases today and have decided to ease their restrictions too. Are they also in the back of beyond? Or did Australia just take stricter measures quicker than the UK.

TheSkyWasDark · 28/04/2020 06:21

@applepiewithicecreammmmm Same reason they're pissed at China, inability to accept that the massive outbreak in the UK was entirely avoidable and is the fault of the government.

Finger point at China all you like (and they're hardly blameless) but the west had weeks to prepare and did nothing.

But of course the UK is so special and exceptional that it couldn't possibly be our fault.

Staticelle · 28/04/2020 06:27

I don't know, I think it's fantastic (although I am jealous).

onesteponepunchoneroundatatime · 28/04/2020 06:59

I am Brit living in NZ and working in the healthcare system.

The message has very clearly been the reason we had a stringent lock down was to prevent the hospitals from being overrun. NZ has had the same mortality rate as
Aus but they have had 5x the hospitalisation at their peak. NZ would not be able manage that.

NZ and Aus are the “gateway” to the Pacific Islands which don’t have the resources to deal with the pandemic. We are also coming into our flu season so getting on top of COVID was essential before that all kicked off

(Apart from my role- which expanded) the hospital I work in has been quiet and has had low capacity. However now the lockdown has eased we are preparing for a bit of a rush of conditions... that haven’t seemed as urgent as COVID.

Every non-essential business and schools have been shut for 5 weeks- I was very pleased to get a coffee this morning. However the PM has made it very clear that we are in the “waiting room” but she doesn’t want to go back into level 4 (amen).

The only real comparison I can make between NZ and the news coming out of the UK, (I read the BBC) is that the communication has been very clear here as to what the plan is. Everyone knows what A bubble is and it is now a common used term in medical notes. If you get a chance watch a few press conferences with JA, AB and other ministers. Good questioning has been welcome and prioritised. the press have been keeping on top of things and have informed the government what people want to know. Also Aus and NZ have been testing a lot which for a small isolated country at the end the world is impressive if you think of the logistics and need.

Critically I would be concerned about the tourism, and the hospitality industry. There is talk of a bubble with Aus, Pacifics and Singapore buy the end of July. Also how education and schools are going to get back on track.

NZ did what was best for NZ but the problems for us may be later down the line is a vaccine doesn’t get to us soon.

DeathByBoredom · 28/04/2020 07:04

It's great and I am really pleased for them. I wanted us to be in the same position. Now though, I wonder about the next stage for them. It will be hard work to constantly be on the alert. I wonder if actually I should have been in favour of the Swedish approach from the outset. I am certainly not in favour of our half arsed version. We could have tried to be NZ.

nannytothequeen · 28/04/2020 07:10

I live in NZ. No one is talking about elimination. Everyone is talking about squashing the curve. Yep, this is a small nation but really there is no need to be disparaging about the incredible job done by our government. Our economy is fragile and boutique but nobody was willing to sacrifice lives for it. Today we went to level 3. Businesses are quietly reopening for contactless payments and pick ups. There is talk of setting up a trans Tasman travel bubble within the year and facilitating travel between NZ and the islands to support their economies. NZ may be small but it has also been successful in this, just as it has successively provided me with excellent healthcare for some complex health issues and is successfully educating my children in a well regarded public system. There are many things NZ does well and there are some unnecessary snippy comments on this thread.

nannytothequeen · 28/04/2020 07:16

Education and school are getting back on track. It is being done incrementally. There are plans for children to be back on site in two weeks as long as there is no upward movement in infection. Days will be staggered at first with variable start/ finish times and careful contact tracing procedures. In the meantime home learning has been going well and the government has supplied the tech to achieve this. Vulnerable children are being served by the equivalent of social services which is a centralized service. I have spoken to no one who is worried. The general feeling is 'we've got this under control'.