Is the government preparing is for a New Zealand scenario?

[lockdownbreakdown]

Does anyone else think we are going to be locked down until the majority are vaccinated and then the borders are going to be closed indefinitely to prevent new strains? I definitely get this vibe from all the stuff leaked in the press. It seems to be the only way we can stop new variant from ruining the vaccination programme as we cant vaccinate the kids if we let in new strains from abroad we will be going back into lockdown indefinitely. Thoughts?

And stop obsessing about people ‘defending Johnson’ fgs

Try and see policy as it is and discuss that. It’s in nearly every post of yours like clockwork

@MarshaBradyo

Jasjas Ok so you’d implement SK approach.

What about China’s? What’s your preference

I’d rather people who want above move there

Yes, SK whats wrong with that?

We have lost almost all our freedoms and for no gain.

Used to being told to fuck off if you don't like it here by brexitiers... .

I voted remain. But yep it’s tiresome in extreme.

We didn’t have what SK had. You want it great

One thing that I’m glad about is we’re not tracked, oh and we didn’t keep children inside as Spain did. I’ll still choose that even if others wish we had followed other countries with above.

Govt could change the law but even allowing for the difficulties in doing that, they were late to party with TnT using their own centralised app that didn't work, wasting precious time.

I'm not even sure if they could change the law just like that. Much less that they should.

Are you also bewailing the fact that other Western democracies didn't adopt East Asian attitudes to data privacy? Because they didn't, though to read your post, you'd think only Britain didn't see fit to radically upend hard-won privacy rights overnight.

Time for the people responsible for this piece of kit to make other arrangements. What if your husband was unavailable or sick. No one is indispensable.

In some lines of work there are some seriously niche technical jobs, perhaps necessitating access to proprietary information, that possibly only a handful of people worldwide can do..or do you expect every hospital/factory/establishment in the UK to employ UK based full time technical staff just in case?

@MarshaBradyo

And stop obsessing about people ‘defending Johnson’ fgs

Try and see policy as it is and discuss that. It’s in nearly every post of yours like clockwork

err who is in power? who is making the decisions? who has led the country to 100k deaths.

If Starmer had done similar, i'd be his biggest critic too.

Likewise, i will praise Johnson for his vaccine policy, if he gets things right then thats excellent.

You on the other hand don't seem able to apportion blame to the conservatives.

Are you also bewailing the fact that other Western democracies didn't adopt East Asian attitudes to data privacy? Because they didn't, though to read your post, you'd think only Britain didn't see fit to radically upend hard-won privacy rights overnight

I live in the UK.... what other countries do is up to them.

So SK track movements, location CC etc to control a pandemic...... enforced quarantine.. meanwhile we are under continual LD, trillions in debt, can't see friends, family (even outside) children denied a decent education...

I know what i would prefer.

Starmer is hopeless. Wanting to close nurseries, who would that hit hardest?

I have been annoyed at various policies you can advance search if so interested

Christmas mixing annoyed me
Issues around schools and impact on children
Any mention of £500 payment
More I cba going on about

I don’t go on about people defending Johnson if they don’t agree with me on it. It’s so dull.

Plus it’s not just him is it. There’s CMO and a whole raft of scientific advisers. Who would have advised Starmer or whomever

I live in the UK.... what other countries do is up to them.

Very evasive answer.

You might prefer to live in a country where the state has access to your private data, but can you really not see why most Western nations disagree? You made it sound like it was so easy to simply change data protection laws overnight. Are you really so incurious as to not ask why no Western nation has chosen to do so? Or if you can't blame it on Boris, are you simply not interested?

@notimagain

Time for the people responsible for this piece of kit to make other arrangements. What if your husband was unavailable or sick. No one is indispensable.

In some lines of work there are some seriously niche technical jobs, perhaps necessitating access to proprietary information, that possibly only a handful of people worldwide can do..or do you expect every hospital/factory/establishment in the UK to employ UK based full time technical staff just in case?

If something is absolutely critical then I'd say it's foolish for the contingency to repair it to involve just one or two people in the world- especially given the pandemic we find ourselves in.

What if this person who of the only knew who can fix something is ill, or drops dead. It's not a sustainable or responsible situation.

@IcedPurple

I live in the UK.... what other countries do is up to them.

Very evasive answer.

You might prefer to live in a country where the state has access to your private data, but can you really not see why most Western nations disagree? You made it sound like it was so easy to simply change data protection laws overnight. Are you really so incurious as to not ask why no Western nation has chosen to do so? Or if you can't blame it on Boris, are you simply not interested?

uh no its not an evasive answer and i didn't say it would be easy, i said "and even if they couldn't they were late with their TnT centralised data app..." (or similar) they tried though didn't they? with no changes in the law required.

The state knows everything it needs to know about you, one reason why our vaccine program is very successful add in the HMRC data.... so much is held on centralised DB's

Normally, no of course not, privacy is vital but we don't live in normal times, so the state has to do what it can to protect its citizens.

If i was dying, choking on my own body fluids and could give up privacy to live, i know what i would choose.

I e we onset what’s going to happen in NZ when travel etc kicks in again...

I wonder what’s*

If i was dying, choking on my own body fluids and could give up privacy to live, i know what i would choose.

Cheap, emotionalistic non-argument.

Again, have you never given any thought to why no Western country has thought to introduce East Asian data protection laws, or lack thereof?

If something is absolutely critical then I'd say it's foolish for the contingency to repair it to involve just one or two people in the world- especially given the pandemic we find ourselves in. What if this person who of the only knew who can fix something is ill, or drops dead. It's not a sustainable or responsible situation.

I doubt it would be "one or two" - as an example in the industry I'm most familiar with (aviation) the really big companies that supply the very expensive "kit" i.e. Boeing and Airbus, have whole teams with shared knowledge and access to proprietary info that are based at company HQ in Seattle/Toulouse to provide customer support.

If a customer has a problem on a scale or of a type that they can't deal with in London, Paris, New York or wherever then individuals from the team, or several of them get sent out to deal with the customer's problem. It makes absolutely zero sense for each customer to keep their own equivalent expertise in house, when they might only be needed once or twice a year, if that. Also Boeing/Airbus quite possibly won't share some proprietary info with non-employees.....

I suspect some parts of the medical technical industry, and other sectors, will operate in a similar manner.

Hope that explanation helps....

To answer the original question, not one bit. Hotel quarantine if it happens will not come for anyone bringing freight into and out of the country for starters, and there will no doubt still be a load of exceptions that allows business people (usually men) to make unnecessary trips or some other reason.

I have family on one of the Channel Islands and looked at their restrictions and exceptions, and unless you are returning to your home there the circumstances are very restricted. For example, were one of my family there to die, I could not travel there for the funeral.

@jasjas1973

Are you also bewailing the fact that other Western democracies didn't adopt East Asian attitudes to data privacy? Because they didn't, though to read your post, you'd think only Britain didn't see fit to radically upend hard-won privacy rights overnight

I live in the UK.... what other countries do is up to them.

So SK track movements, location CC etc to control a pandemic...... enforced quarantine.. meanwhile we are under continual LD, trillions in debt, can't see friends, family (even outside) children denied a decent education...

I know what i would prefer.

So you want the population tracked tracked by an app (not sure how that works for those without a smart phone), their details published, people forced to leave their homes if they test positive.

It scares me how willing people seem to be to give up their privacy.

This makes frightening reading, although I'm sure some people would be rubbing their hands in glee
South Korea

@MarshaBradyo

First national lockdown was very similar here. Difference is we aren’t a backwater with a handful of people but a densely populated country of 66m people and a major finance/business hub.

Yep the NZ posts are getting very tired

Truth hard to stomach?

@Delatron

Yes we are not and could never be like New Zealand. So well done, very happy that your 7 week lockdown worked considering your tiny, spread out population and the fact that you are pretty isolated out there.

I don’t think a zero COVID policy will work and they need another plan quite frankly. It’s here to stay so why decimate the economy for years trying to achieve the unachievable and ruining many lives, especially the young.

This highly ignorant stance seems to be trotted out daily.

Population of NZ is concentrated in cities and towns, not "spread out".

NZ and the UK are island nations.

NZ locked down before a single death. Proper lockdown, none of this oh but you can go to work or school or whatever. Everything shut except the supermarket and hospitals. There was a very high rate of compliance.

The messaging was crystal clear, brilliantly simple and effective, always driving unity.

Compare this with the confusion, fear and division promoted by the mixed messaging in the UK is symptomatic of a chaotic government whose own leaders refused to follow rules set for the little people.

Arrivees to NZ were required to isolate from the get go and were subject to police checks. When repeated breaches were identified, the requirement changed to arrivals being escorted to quarantine facilities. Very soon management was taken over by the army. Conditions there now are evwn more stringent and it is now the case that entry from the UK is to be halted indefinitely because of the UK strain. Same with SA.

That's why you see them living a covid-free existence, not because of your fantasy that each person lives miles from the next.

Similar in Japan. Good leadership, collaborative approach, high level of compliance.

Lol Miramour it’s more the lack of insight that’s ‘hard to stomach’

The people at Heathrow were actually departing the UK possibly going home. Do you want to trap them here ?

NZ and the UK are island nations.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is not an island nation.

@Miramour you’re the uneducated one if you think we could in any way have emulated New Zealand.

There is no way we would have shut the borders in March. Heathrow is a huge international hub. Is New Zealand the same? Didn’t think so. You’re incredibly ignorant if you think we have the man power to check up on every single arrival. You think because we are ‘an island nation’ (we’re not by the way) we are the same as New Zealand?
Do you have any idea how much we import from other countries?

You think controlling a virus amongst a population of 68 million is the same as an island of 5 million 🤣. Right. Jesus there’s 10 million people in London! But yes because we are both ‘island nations’ the same approach would have worked.

Stupid post.

If Covid is here forever. Which it will be. Will New Zealand stay cut off forever? Or are they relying on vaccines which we know aren’t 100%?
Wonder what their long term strategy out of this is.

@Delatron I think right now they are riding on a run of good luck unfortunately. Unless they wish to remain isolated for the duration some thing will have to give.