New Zealand has eliminated coronavirus

[Porpoises]

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

[BabyLlamaZen]

I agree it's a completely different country pretty much isolated from the rest of the world anyway and used to being that way. People live really far apart naturally. I also think the UK could have acted a tad faster, but not the way NZ has in reality. Good for them though!

[StartupRepair]

I think NZ has not put a foot wrong. Unlike our bumbling Australian government which has stuffed up a few different ways and is lucky our numbers are as low as they are. I don't think any country knows what to do next, though.

[nannytothequeen]

I don't live far apart. I live in a historic area of a provincial city. I have loads of neighbours. The larger and smaller cities are pretty dense. One thing that kiwis are good at is not panicking. We have listened to the sensible words of our PM and our health providers and have quietly got on with it. I have seen no clapping, no gatherings, no fighting in the supermarkets despite a shortage of yeast. It was ANZAC day at the week. There were no parades or events but many many people stood quietly at the ends of their drives at dawn in their dressing gowns to mark the day. The last post on my street was very moving.

[KonTikki]

Spent a year in NZ, love the country.
But if ever there was a country ideally suited to put in place restrictions to fight a pandemic its NZ.
They can maintain a virus free zone by restricting, testing and placing in quarantine all new arrivals.
But you cannot compare NZ to anywhere in Europe.

[TheClitterati]

I have lots of friends & family in nz. Restrictions there have been much tighter than here. They are all calmly getting on with it in their own ways. No one is moaning, dad's well stocked with home brew, friends are a bit bored but waiting it out doing bits of DIY and cooking, listening to music and playing board games. One friend is on lockdown with 3 other men in a pub in an idyllic location - they are doing work around the pub, cleaning, exercising, cooking and drinking lots of beer.

Level 3 was described in NZ as "level 4 but with KFC" which really made me laugh.

[eaglejulesk]

There are many things NZ does well and there are some unnecessary snippy comments on this thread.

This. I agree with others on this thread who have said that we have just quietly got on with what we have been asked to do and trusted our leaders. In return we have been kept totally up-to-date with what has been happening and the daily 1 pm news briefs have been very informative.

I'm sure we can't judge the whole of the UK from what we read on MN, and certainly my friends over there have been coping just the same way I have - but honestly, some of the whining and complaining on here is astounding.

[eaglejulesk]

People live really far apart naturally

Not in the towns and cities - which is where most people live.

[Porcupineinwaiting]

People live really far apart naturally

They're people not bears. Most of the population live in towns and cities, just like anywhere else.

[TheSkyWasDark]

"Spent a year in NZ, love the country.
But if ever there was a country ideally suited to put in place restrictions to fight a pandemic its NZ."

I'm curious what you think was stopping the UK doing the same.

Vietnam, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, NZ - all these countries are very different and yet handled it far better than the UK.

They all had less warning than the UK too, bar maybe NZ, due to their close proximity to China.

[PicsInRed]

I'm curious what you think was stopping the UK doing the same.

It was strongly suggested in the media that France threatened to isolate (and lead the wider isolation of) the UK if we continued our own approach and refused a Euro style lockdown.

Of course no such threats were made to other nations taking their own course of action.

🤔

[TheGreatWave]

There are many things NZ does well and there are some unnecessary snippy comments on this thread.

I am not sure if asking if other factors were at play is necessarily being snippy. Was it just the way lockdown was implemented or is there other external factors at play that meant numbers were always going to be lower?

I'm sure the PTB are looking into this though and the implications long term.

[Porcupineinwaiting]

And that stopped us taking appropriate action how @PicsInRed? Pretty sure most countries that locked down also closed their borders, esp to countries where the virus was allowed to run free.

[TheSkyWasDark]

@PicsInRed I don't understand your post, sorry. What's a euro style lockdown. What does it mean to "isolate the UK"? Economically or what?

@thegreatwave NZ is not the only country that handled it well.

Yes it was easier for them. But the UK is also an island. It wouldn't have been that hard to close the border.

[bruffin]

I'm sure we can't judge the whole of the UK from what we read on MN, and certainly my friends over there have been coping just the same way I have - but honestly, some of the whining and complaining on here is astounding.
Thankfully MN is a really poor representative of the UK, I dont know anyone in real life who is complaining , they just get on with it. It also attracts a lot of trolls who like to raise the froth, but that is because of the type of posters MN has in the first place.Maybe its because of its left wing bent who like to virtue signal was well.

[Rhubardandcustard]

Not elminated though really they can’t say that.

They have zero new cases for now. Too early to say it’s been completely eliminated unless they have come up with a cure for it!

[Beeep]

I once tried to enter nz with an orange (complete accident). Let's just say I'll never do that again

😂

[notimagain]

It was strongly suggested in the media that France threatened to isolate (and lead the wider isolation of) the UK if we continued our own approach and refused a Euro style lockdown.

Of course no such threats were made to other nations taking their own course of action.

By the time the likes of M. Macron and others made those comments the UK was a notable outlier when it came to matters such as social distancing and it's political leaders were still appearing to be highly resistant to the idea of a formal lockdown.... M. Macron was trying to protecting national interests, which I'm sure you would think is a good thing for a political leader to do.

The UK was and still is free to do what it likes, and you'll be happy to hear that the current French entry restrictions apply to all those attempting to enter France, not just Brits.

[Unmentionablesandfluff]

Dairy farming is the single largest agricultural sector in the UK at £3.8 billion (the value of the whole industry). New Zealand dairy exports were valued at approximately NZ$16.667 billion (U.K. £8.067 billion). Tourism in NZ accounts for £6.242 billion while tourism in the U.K. accounts for £213 billion. Guess which sector works better with closed borders? So I think the U.K. will suffer more. Yes tourism will be a loss to NZ but they’re looking at a transTasman border bubble - and most tourists to NZ come from Australia. Imports to NZ were slightly down but exports went up during the shutdown.

If you want to look for comparisons, look at the Republic of Ireland - similar population (give or take 100,000), similar economies (tourism, agriculture). Deaths in Ireland are 1,100 and cases are 19,648.
I wouldn’t agree with all of NZs policies or the PMs decisions, but for Covid19, they’re showing what can be done. Australia despite ScoMo’s initial screw ups (and he’s got a history of those... remember his Hawaiian break at the during the bushfires?), is also doing well.

[sewingsinger]

Whilst I think NZ will have lots of problems, like most countries, I do think it is well placed to pull itself out of this well. They are at the arse end of the world with a small population but the mentality of that population is 'we are the best' (whilst this can be annoying, they really do believe in their country and there is a real collective feeling of being proud to be a Kiwi), there is also very much a can do attitude, there is lots of innovation. The pace of life is slower and I think simpler, it is easier to upsize stuff back up to meet population needs.

The UK joining the EU would have been one example of them having to adjust and change to keep themselves going. They came of out this very well, we should all be looking at what they have done well and not slagging them off.

[LaurieMarlow]

If you want to look for comparisons, look at the Republic of Ireland - similar population (give or take 100,000), similar economies (tourism, agriculture). Deaths in Ireland are 1,100 and cases are 19,648.

They’re not really comparable though. The population is the same, but Ireland is much smaller in terms of area.

It’s also very closely linked with the UK and the interplay between the two countries is constant. There’s an open border for one thing. The flight route between London and Dublin is the busiest in the world.

For what it’s worth, I think Ireland have also done a reasonably good job in containing the outbreak. If they were counting deaths like the U.K. are, the figures would be about half that 1,100 because nursing homes have been the major issue.

[PicsInRed]

And that stopped us taking appropriate action how@PicsInRed?

It inappropriately politically interfered with the UK taking the course of action we had determined for ourselves.

PicsInRedI don't understand your post, sorry. What's a euro style lockdown. What does it mean to "isolate the UK"? Economically or what?

People sit in their apartments until permitted to leave with almost no outings. Children have been literally stuck in apartments for many, many weeks. The harshest version. The UK has, of course, paid lip service to this with a soft lock down.

Nevertheless, that threat was, supposedly, made.

[PicsInRed]

By the time the likes of M. Macron and others made those comments the UK was a notable outlier

No doubt a similar communication has been directed to Sweden. No?

[BenjiB]

NZ had 3 new cases today.

[itstrue]

@sewingsinger. arse end of the world, annoying, pace of life slower and I think simpler.

Pretty insulting really. You don't see NZ 'ers making comments like this about the UK.

[PicsInRed]

Tourism is a critical export industry and national employment source for NZ - per NZ's own data.

www.tourismnewzealand.com/about/about-the-tourism-industry/