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Original poster

Depressing but interesting reflection on New Zealand...

164 replies

Ohbabybab · 09/01/2021 18:33

If only we’d followed a similar path

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2021/jan/05/watching-new-zealands-covid-success-from-britain-has-shown-me-nations-make-their-own-luck

OP posts:
lavenderlou · 09/01/2021 18:40

There are some major differences between the UK and NZ, but I do think the biggest thing they did that made any difference was to stringently lock down for 4 weeks before the virus had made any real impact. Schools closed to everyone, borders shut. That stamped it out, then they were able to control arrivals to the country and deal promptly with any new cases as they were so rare.

They had the advantage too of being able to see what went so terribly wrong in Europe which watched and waited until it was too late to get control.

starfro · 09/01/2021 18:41

Even if it were possible to suppress it to zero, you'd have to completely shut the borders between the UK and Europe, potentially for years.

Orangeblossom77777 · 09/01/2021 21:53

There are people in UK with no restrictions. On Guernsey they have none.

Changemaname1 · 09/01/2021 21:57

There are people in UK with no restrictions. On Guernsey they have none

This ! If the virus is t going anywhere how long would we have to stay totally closed off for ?

What about imports ? What about people who have family or partners living / working in other countries ? What about people who travel for work ? Are we happy to totally destroy the travel industry and industry over here that relies on tourism from abroad ?

Changemaname1 · 09/01/2021 21:58

Sorry quoted the wrong thing there meant to quote @starfro doh!

Msmcc1212 · 09/01/2021 22:02

What about imports ? What about people who have family or partners living / working in other countries ? What about people who travel for work ? Are we happy to totally destroy the travel industry and industry over here that relies on tourism from abroad

The virus ripping through the country is doing this anyway isn’t it?

Changemaname1 · 09/01/2021 22:04

@Msmcc1212 yes I guess you are right but I’d think the aim would be to manageable and much lower case numbers and then open up more such as we did in summer

Whereas some people seem to think totally close the borders , get to zero cases and keep it that way which is not likely to be possible

notevenat20 · 09/01/2021 22:06

We would have had to shut down and ban all incoming visitors by March 1 at the latest to be like New Zealand. No one would have accepted that. As much as you might hate the govt, that is the political reality.

AlandAnna · 09/01/2021 22:07

New Zealand is hardly the world hub London is so easier for them. It would have been very difficult to close borders but yes, we should have.
My heart sunk when they started to use temperature checks at airports last January. How does that work. Epidemiologists who have spent their lives planning for this must be feeling pretty worthless.
I guess the question is, what would we do differently next time. Hindsight etc.

inquietant · 09/01/2021 22:09

@starfro

Even if it were possible to suppress it to zero, you'd have to completely shut the borders between the UK and Europe, potentially for years.
I don't understand why shut borders, with everything open domestically wouldn't be better than where we are now Sad. I don't think they'd have to be shut but you would need proper quarantine and tracing.
badpuma · 09/01/2021 22:10

@notevenat20

We would have had to shut down and ban all incoming visitors by March 1 at the latest to be like New Zealand. No one would have accepted that. As much as you might hate the govt, that is the political reality.
The virus was seeded throughout the country by the end of half term when lots of people (about the same as the population of both Auckland and wellington) had been skiing for half term.
flowerbombVR · 09/01/2021 22:32

I genuinely think it's because they have a woman at the helm!

bluetongue · 09/01/2021 22:44

Australia has gone down a similar route to New Zealand, but with a larger population and more large cities where international arrivals are quarantining the virus is still regularly escaping into the community. This has meant most of the country still has a level of restrictions and mask wearing (luckily no masks needed where I am at the moment).

This shows that keeping the virus out gets harder as populations get larger and more spread through a country it’s not as simple as some people seem to think it is. Much easier for New Zealand where Auckland is the one main international city and point of arrival.

purplebagladylovesgin · 09/01/2021 22:46

@flowerbombVR I agree, clear female leadership and the fact they closed their boarders early enough to control and stamp out the spread.

Other countries that implemented quarantine early on have had more success.

I remember thinking when they flew the holiday makers back from ?Lanzarote and quarantined them that we were starting to take this seriously. After this however, there were no checks or isolation, not even airports advising quarantine. Just land and disembark as usual.

Absolute fiasco. The government decided not to act early, swiftly or sensibly. We are reaping this now.

CKBJ · 09/01/2021 23:01

We could see what was happening in China and Italy but still our borders weren’t closed. I think we’d be in a very different place now if that had happened. The government were too slow to act. A female leader would have probably done a better job.

PicsInRed · 09/01/2021 23:09

The difference is that NZ was willing to give it a go.

The UK did nothing. And still is.

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 09/01/2021 23:12

Closing our borders is one thing.....changing our population density / swapping to the summer / reducing the diversity of the nation is another kettle of fish and wouldn't ever be possible.

So well done NZ. If only we could be like you. But we cant

PicsInRed · 09/01/2021 23:12

We could still close the border and lockdown to erase as much new strain as we can, as well as "traditional" covid. We won't though, we'll just bleat on about what a super important transport hub we are and let ourselves continue to be flooded with new strain.

HollyBen · 09/01/2021 23:20

We could have closed the borders to travellers and still allowed imports to happen. Until July I lived in Singapore and that is what they did. Singapore produce next to no domestic foodstuff so had to keep those routes open. Singapore for months have been reporting occasional cases (1 or 2 but mainly 0 community cases). They are reporting around 20 cases per day from those who are in quarantine after being allowed to enter the country but who were placed into strict 14 day quarantine and are tested twice before being allowed to leave.

Kokeshi123 · 09/01/2021 23:54

If the UK had closed borders (not literally closed but requiring quarantine for everyone coming in and having careful infection control measures for frieght handling), pretty much everything could be normal except for the tourist industry. And even the impact on tourism would be mitigated by the fact that everyone in the UK would be holidaying in the UK instead of going overseas. The government could have spent a little money on some stimulus measures aimed at encouraging domestic staycations (increasing holiday breaks throughout the year and giving out some GoTo travel vouchers). It wouldn't be perfect but it would be a lot better than the current situation! Propping up the tourist industry a bit is better than shutting down the entire country.

Cattasaurus · 10/01/2021 00:23

@starfro

Even if it were possible to suppress it to zero, you'd have to completely shut the borders between the UK and Europe, potentially for years.
doesn't seem a problem to me. Would help with illegal immigration too.
Cattasaurus · 10/01/2021 00:29

@Changemaname1

There are people in UK with no restrictions. On Guernsey they have none

This ! If the virus is t going anywhere how long would we have to stay totally closed off for ?

What about imports ? What about people who have family or partners living / working in other countries ? What about people who travel for work ? Are we happy to totally destroy the travel industry and industry over here that relies on tourism from abroad ?

Imports can be unaccompanied. People moved abroad on their own free will sucks to be them but they made the decision to go abroad we are well past the days of forcibly putting people on ships and sending them against their will to a new country. Zero covid is a very good solution we should have locked the borders instead of telling everyone who suggested this that they were racist. Then aggressively isolated in state quarantine camps people who were infected and undertaken a proper chinese style lockdown. Even the odd outbreaks that start in Aus now come from quarantine hotels so really they perhaps need to just stop movement of people until vaccinated.
compulsiveliar2019 · 10/01/2021 00:32

You can hardly compare the uk to New Zealand!
They have 50% greater landmass and less than 1/10th of the population!!!

They are several hours away by plane from their nearest neighbours. They could slam the borders shut in a way the uk never could.

JerichosPenisInADeadChickHat · 10/01/2021 00:32

"What about imports ? What about people who have family or partners living / working in other countries ? What about people who travel for work ? Are we happy to totally destroy the travel industry and industry over here that relies on tourism from abroad ?"

Haven't all of these things been affected anyway? What about people who have families living abroad?! Our kids aren't even able to go to school ffs

blueshoes · 10/01/2021 00:34

It's the Guardian