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New Zealand welcomes back first cruise ship since COVID hit

19 Comments
By NICK PERRY

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Oh that damned math and logic. 2 years ago, when there was no vaccine, no theraputic, when all the Kiwis could do was to mask up and lock down (which through geographical luck they could do), they limited the disease to 1,600 cases for which they had a pretty high 4% mortality rate.

Key point: They had few deaths because they had few cases due to lock downs on the border and mask and other mandates. This was a fantastic success story.

NOW, with safe and effective vaccines that limit spread and reduce severity, as well as effective theraputics, the country has opened up BECAUSE IT CAN. It can treat people that get infected with a relatively high degree of success. The current mortality rate is 0.1% about the same as for influenza.

So NZ is a star here. An example of what happens when a population that is open to science, elects a government that makes public health decisions based on, you guessed it, science AND changes public health guidelines based on (what's the term I am looking for? Oh yes, ) SCIENCE.

So there is nothing untoward about ha crusise ship docking in land of the Hobbit. Nothing what so ever.

6 ( +10 / -4 )

NOW, with safe and effective vaccines that limit spread and reduce severity, as well as effective theraputics, the country has opened up BECAUSE IT CAN. 

Another important reason that made the country open up is because the Delta and Omicron variants make lockdowns a much less effective measure of control. So making huge sacrifices just to still have thousands and thousands of cases becomes nonsense.

So it is about two factors that changed the balance, lockdowns becoming less effective to control infections and infections becoming less risky (thanks in great part to vaccines and much more effective treatment).

3 ( +7 / -4 )

China is still the model for that strategy success, as it has the lowest infection rate in the world among all countries

No it does not, there is no source that says this.

Vaccines are working very nicely by reducing the risk from infection, which is the approach being supported scientifically as the best by all international experts. Insisting on destroying local economies, interrupting access to health services and trampling on human rights just because a country has been unable to reduce the risk after infection so much that it has to hide their actual death rates is not an advice that New Zealand needs.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

NZ currently going through record covid deaths, and in fact, the worst such country on a per capita basis.

Which is obviusly explained by the huge increase on spreading capacity from the currently prevalent variants. The explosive increase of cases do not come with the same increase in hospitalizations and deaths thanks in great part to the vaccines.

Right now NZ have had close to 1.7 million cases and 1700 deaths, for a rate of close to 1 death for every 1000 cases., one year ago it had 23 deaths from 1,600 cases which would mean over 14 deaths for every 1000 cases. This means the death per infection rate is 1/14 of what they were last year. That is a very good improvement.

 The truth is that someone who has a bad heart, bad lungs, cancer & is 90 years old dies & they tested positive for covid is classed as a Covid death

Since the very heavy contribution from covid to the death of people with preexisting conditions is well characterized this has a very solid basis. If a child with severe malnutrition dies from an infection do you also think the malnutrition had nothing to do with the death?

2 ( +12 / -10 )

"NZ currently going through record covid deaths, and in fact, the worst such country on a per capita basis."

I have just been back in NZ and was asking the questions on why the death rate is so high. The truth is that someone who has a bad heart, bad lungs, cancer & is 90 years old dies & they tested positive for covid is classed as a Covid death. This is scare tactics by the current incompetent Labour lead Govt to force people into being vaccinated.

0 ( +8 / -8 )

All aboard the COVID LINER.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Jeans and T-shirtToday  02:36 pm JST

But you (rightly) don't believe China.

But you don't (rightly) believe every country.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Coronavirus/Tokyo-s-excess-deaths-far-higher-than-COVID-19-count-data-shows

-9 ( +0 / -9 )

Jeans and T-shirtToday  03:57 pm JST

Really? Any post explicitly stating that?

Today: 

"China is still the model for that strategy success, as it has the lowest infection rate in the world among all countries."

Too funny.

Is that your comprehension of the sentence?

You're hurting me!

-9 ( +0 / -9 )

NZ currently going through record covid deaths, and in fact, the worst such country on a per capita basis.

Mask mandates, one of the world's highest vaccination and booster rates. In fact, 45% of everyone over 65 have been double boosted.

Funny how JT et al are suddenly so silent when it comes to New Zealand.

What happened??

-10 ( +4 / -14 )

New Zealand on Friday welcomed the first cruise ship to return since the coronavirus pandemic began, signaling a long-sought return to normalcy for the nation's tourism industry.

Ignoring a huge problem is normal?

“Amazing, isn't it?” Tourism Minister Stuart Nash said in an interview with The Associated Press. “It's another step in the reopening of our borders and a step closer to resuming business as usual.”

Amazing New Zealand has one of the world's highest infection rates even with a high percentage of vaccinated population. The handling of the crisis there has not been good since they eased restrictions from the zero covid strategy. New Zealand gave up right before Delta hit; otherwise, it could have prevented infections and deaths, according to global experts. No one has scientific proof to the contrary.

China is still the model for that strategy success, as it has the lowest infection rate in the world among all countries.

-10 ( +0 / -10 )

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