Can someone explain to me New Zealand?

[idontknow54789]

Sorry for the ignorance/naivety here but can someone explain to me the reasonings behind such extreme lockdown measures in NZ? At the beginning of the pandemic they're approach was fully accepted but surely now with vaccines and omnicrom being a 'milder' form of covid they have to start setting sense? Is it about the health system? I understand there's a severe lack of ICU beds but is locking down so much really better for health? Can anyone explain it to me please?

@JackieWeaversZoomAc

I have lots of friends and family in New Zealand. Most people there are completely frightened of Covid still.

The attitude is polar opposite from that here in the UK. I find it all quite bizarre especially as they have high levels of vaccination.

I'm now seeing a lot of people in nz saying they won't even leave the house until they have the booster jab.

So, your family and friends are "most people" of NZ, a population of 5 million? Yes, some people in NZ are probably frightened of Covid but that would be the same for any country and not NZ specific!

All my friends and family are out and about enjoying the summer and getting on with their lives. Most of my client group (vulnerable group) are also going about their daily lives. I don't know anyone who is too afraid to go out the door, so maybe try being a little less dramatic, you sound like a Daily Mail headline.

Yes - I guess we are having very different experiences.

We are all self isolating in our house at the moment. Both my children tested positive 5 days ago. I'm testing daily but I'm still negative. Im triple vaxed. Children are not vaxed. No one has any symptoms.

Obviously I know many people have had very very different experiences but it's all feeling quite surreal in our house this week.

And then vaxed healthy friends in nz won't leave the house.

@iloathhousework obviously I know EVERYONE in NZ.

@milkyaqua

I find it odd people are so invested in their ideology of anti-lockdowns and/or anti-restrictions that they feel the need yet again to query, sneer at, mock, and suggest poor outcomes for a country like NZ - which has managed to have only 52 deaths from Covid in the entire pandemic.

Absolutely. The cognitive dissonance is stunning. I live in a country that has fare somewhat better than the UK, but I have no interest in comparing the two as I think, generally, most governments did the best they could with the information they had at the time. (Emphasising in general). I certainly wouldn't criticise another country's response when my own has been questionable.

Ardern probably looked across the ditch and saw how Q has mishandled our opening. We would have been fine if omicron hadn't fucked it all up. We were at 90% vaccinated but had not yet started vaccinating children. Omicron has raced through the state but we should be peaking next week.

Our premier doubled down and removed all restrictions except the mask mandate and the vaccine pass. If you are not vaccinated, there are very few places you can go.

The government have turned into cruel dictators.
They have brainwashed citizens into submission.
1 million kiwis are outside of NZ and have to play a squid game style lottery to enter, pay for quarantine and be detained for an indefinite time if one of other inmates tests positive. Residents with family outside of NZ who need to travel have to play red light green light to return.
Oh, but you can apply for exemptions to skip the game...it's really fair - wife killed in a head on collision leaving 2 kids under 5 DENIED Dad with terminal cancer and days to live DENIED Visa expired , evicted and suicidal DENIED Kiwi ICU nurse with job offer in NZ DENIED Medical student who flew to Aus to be with dying Mum during travel corridor and needs to be back for final year DENIED
Foreign D list DJ APPROVED

@habibihabibi

The government have turned into cruel dictators. They have brainwashed citizens into submission. 1 million kiwis are outside of NZ and have to play a squid game style lottery to enter, pay for quarantine and be detained for an indefinite time if one of other inmates tests positive. Residents with family outside of NZ who need to travel have to play red light green light to return. Oh, but you can apply for exemptions to skip the game...it's really fair - wife killed in a head on collision leaving 2 kids under 5 DENIED Dad with terminal cancer and days to live DENIED Visa expired , evicted and suicidal DENIED Kiwi ICU nurse with job offer in NZ DENIED Medical student who flew to Aus to be with dying Mum during travel corridor and needs to be back for final year DENIED Foreign D list DJ APPROVED

Slightly melodramatic

I am in NZ. It's really bad here for the unvaxxed. Absolutely NO one has been granted an expemption from the vaccine, even if they will have a severe reaction to it. My 15 year old son has multiple allergies, he hasn't even been able to have his normal childhood immunizations. The best that we could get here was an offer to have him vaccinated in hospital with a crash cart at the ready in case he went into anaphylaxis. As we have had zero cases in our little town and I'm not sure he would survive another reaction, he decided not to risk it. He is now no longer allowed to attend any clubs, sports, cinemas, meet his friends in town, hes banned from the local leisure center, gym, pool and library. His mental health is suffering and I feel so angry every time I see jacindas smug face on the tele, telling us to "be kind". Where is her kindness? We have the highest teen suicide rate in the developed world and jacindas response to that was to seal the coroner's records for the next 5 years, so we won't know the death toll.

The media will not say a word against jacinda and instead blame the rising cases on "anti vaxxers". Something like 95% of the country has been vaccinated now due to the inhumane mandates that jacinda brought in. My OH and I were both working in the healthcare sector as nurses and I was fired for refusing to get a vaccine passport - I'm vaccinated, I just refused to get a passport in order to enter cafes etc. I want no part in forcing a two tier society, in feeding the narrative that people like my son are to blame for the governments failings. There are many many angry people here, but its never reported in the media. DH is British and the children all have the right to live and work in the uk. If things don't ease up soon we will consider moving over, for the sake of our son.

I love what the Canadian truckers are doing right now!!

Mrbob
The NZ government controls internal media, medical opinion, bans overseas citizens from voting after a certain period , passes laws without consultation, closes the border to its own citizens ..smacks of something that happened in 1933 rather than a democracy.

I don’t think the Queensland opening was mishandled. People got vaccinated on the promise of borders reopening. Western Australia and Nz said the same thing but have changed the goalposts, and that’s what’s frustrating. Omicron in a vaccinated population is absolutely milder, current hospitalisation rate is about 0.2 % , which is way better than previous variants seem to have been in other countries.

SecondSwitchNZ
I have friends doing exactly this. Both doctors who immigrated for a better life in NZ are now leaving.

I am a Brit living in NZ. There are no “strict” lockdown rules but as the Omicron and Delta overwhelmed Australia; and NZ is under resourced as described it does seem the sensible if unpopular approach. If the borders are shut and Omicron is already in the community, and it’s summer here then I can see why we went to red.

I am here on my own, and have been for the entire pandemic. People have been a stressed before but this write its i vinous everyone (including the government) is just knackered with the changes and the uncertainty.

I am desperate to see any of my family as I am on my own here, and have had a couple of trips to Oz cancelled and it is really tough. No amount of medication or optimism in the world can replace a hug from someone you love. Having said that I still support what the decisions are even if I really really hate them

@habibihabibi

Oh do get over yourself. Maybe chill out and stop the dramatics.

@SecondSwitchNZ

I am in NZ. It's really bad here for the unvaxxed. Absolutely NO one has been granted an expemption from the vaccine, even if they will have a severe reaction to it. My 15 year old son has multiple allergies, he hasn't even been able to have his normal childhood immunizations. The best that we could get here was an offer to have him vaccinated in hospital with a crash cart at the ready in case he went into anaphylaxis. As we have had zero cases in our little town and I'm not sure he would survive another reaction, he decided not to risk it. He is now no longer allowed to attend any clubs, sports, cinemas, meet his friends in town, hes banned from the local leisure center, gym, pool and library. His mental health is suffering and I feel so angry every time I see jacindas smug face on the tele, telling us to "be kind". Where is her kindness? We have the highest teen suicide rate in the developed world and jacindas response to that was to seal the coroner's records for the next 5 years, so we won't know the death toll.

The media will not say a word against jacinda and instead blame the rising cases on "anti vaxxers". Something like 95% of the country has been vaccinated now due to the inhumane mandates that jacinda brought in. My OH and I were both working in the healthcare sector as nurses and I was fired for refusing to get a vaccine passport - I'm vaccinated, I just refused to get a passport in order to enter cafes etc. I want no part in forcing a two tier society, in feeding the narrative that people like my son are to blame for the governments failings. There are many many angry people here, but its never reported in the media. DH is British and the children all have the right to live and work in the uk. If things don't ease up soon we will consider moving over, for the sake of our son.

I'm so sorry for what you are going through. I'm in the western part of the US where many if not most of us, in our very conservative county, are unvaccinated.

I can't imagine living under those conditions - the two tier society. I used to think it was the right wingers who were the authoritarians, but they are in fact he live and let live freedom lovers.

I have an autoimmune disorder which makes me react badly to many medications and topical ointments. I have had some frightening allergic reactions to some medications and just last month I developed a new allergy to antibiotics. I can't imagine how terrified I'd be if a vaccine was forced on me.

When you see a doctor or dentist here they don't even bother asking if you've had the covid vaccine. No one is pushing vaccines in our neck of the woods.

I feel really bad for your son and I hope he'll be okay.

@SecondSwitchNZ

I am in NZ. It's really bad here for the unvaxxed. Absolutely NO one has been granted an expemption from the vaccine, even if they will have a severe reaction to it. My 15 year old son has multiple allergies, he hasn't even been able to have his normal childhood immunizations. The best that we could get here was an offer to have him vaccinated in hospital with a crash cart at the ready in case he went into anaphylaxis. As we have had zero cases in our little town and I'm not sure he would survive another reaction, he decided not to risk it. He is now no longer allowed to attend any clubs, sports, cinemas, meet his friends in town, hes banned from the local leisure center, gym, pool and library. His mental health is suffering and I feel so angry every time I see jacindas smug face on the tele, telling us to "be kind". Where is her kindness? We have the highest teen suicide rate in the developed world and jacindas response to that was to seal the coroner's records for the next 5 years, so we won't know the death toll.

The media will not say a word against jacinda and instead blame the rising cases on "anti vaxxers". Something like 95% of the country has been vaccinated now due to the inhumane mandates that jacinda brought in. My OH and I were both working in the healthcare sector as nurses and I was fired for refusing to get a vaccine passport - I'm vaccinated, I just refused to get a passport in order to enter cafes etc. I want no part in forcing a two tier society, in feeding the narrative that people like my son are to blame for the governments failings. There are many many angry people here, but its never reported in the media. DH is British and the children all have the right to live and work in the uk. If things don't ease up soon we will consider moving over, for the sake of our son.

That sounds awful/ I’m so sorry for your son.

@Lolamento

Are people happy with the government about this? Sounds terrible and abusive.

No, we're not happy. The country is being run by an arrogant and very inexperienced government whose only good decision was to lock the country down right at the beginning. Now, they're backed into a corner and got no place to go.

Roll on late 2023 for our next general election.

Look! NZ are doing it differently from the UK! They must be wrong!

@mathanxiety

Look! NZ are doing it differently from the UK! They must be wrong!

Well you can apply common sense, that isn’t country specific.

Well I can go into work, go to the supermarket, take public transport if I want, go the hairdresser, go shopping, go to a bar or out for dinner. I like many/most New Zealanders am fully vaccinated and have a vaccine pass - if I didn't have one I'd be much more restricted. Also New Zealanders living abroad had a very long lead in period- months - where the government told them to come back and they could have re-entered without restriction. There was plenty of warning. I could leave the country if I wanted to but getting back would be the problem. We are not trapped in our houses. We can travel round the country. Yes we do have to wear facemasks a lot and households do have to isolate. No the government is not trying to eliminate covid any more as it is accepted that omicron is too contagious to stop. Our death toll is tiny and I don't actually know anybody who has had covid. I am not sure why British people are so interested in comnenting on our covid rules when you have thousands dead and we have around 50. Even allowing for scale we have far fewer dead. No, we don't all live on some isolated hilltop with sheep - we have regular suburbs and cities. If I wanted a face to face GP appointment I could probably get one today or tomorrow.

@Rangoon, thats great life has continued as normal for you. My son, however, with multiple allergies cannot just walk in and see a dr. As he is not vaccinated they will only see him in the car park, dressed in full ppe gear. We have zero cases in our area. I'm all for reasonable precautions but the mandates and vaccine pasports are going too far. The rest of our fanily is in the UK, mostly working in healthcare and they find nz's approach absolutely ludicrous and inhumane.

Rangoon
Business owners who relied on tourism must be on their knees.
When we visited NZ there were barely any locals as guests in the lodges or hotels or tourist spots.
We have rental property in NZ which hasn't been occupied for nearly 22 months.

@Rangoon - Everyone I know is in the same position as you, and yet one or two posters seem to think they speak for the whole country when they say things like "No, we're not happy". A bit presumptuous surely. Actually the only person I know who is not happy is an anti-vaxxer!

Whats the financial support for those affected by zero tourism, what happens financially when forced to isolate for 24days?

@SecondSwitchNZ I am so sorry about your son as it must be very difficult for him. I understand there is a temporary medical exemption for six months to get the equivalent of a vaccine pass but I guess it might be renewable. Would your son be able to get one?