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© Thomson Reuters 2020.New Zealand's COVID-19 outbreak grows, as Australian cases ease
By Lidia Kelly MELBOURNE©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.
42 Comments
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funkymofo
The New Zealand response was and is one of the best in the world. They deserve praise, and I think we all realise the pandemic is a global problem.
Zaphod
funkymofo
As decided by who? And according to what matrix?
Jimizo
The numbers are extremely impressive in terms of infections and deaths.
What ‘matrix’ are you using?
yoshisan88
Yes. NZ did a good job. However, you need to take into factor like NZ is about the size of Japan with only 5 million people living in cities with relatively low population density per sq km. Therefore, they can try the unusual 'elimination' strategy. With luck on their side they did it. Looks like their luck runs out now. However, it is just clusters in the north island. They should be able to contain it but it may take time.
Struggling with a resurgence in Victoria is true but in New South Wales? The writer contradicts himself by went on to say only five new cases is reported in NSW. Those cases in NSW are clusters. I am starting to agree with others who writes here that some medias are scaremongering us.
Akula
New Zealand's outbreak all seems to be within the one cluster, and looks to be well contained.
Contact tracing and so on seems to have worked well. That said, there needs to be an endgame to all this, and at some point we just need to accept that COVID-19 is a thing we have to live with.
Jtsnose
These countries have diminished or low rates of COVID 19 infection,
Mainland China cases,
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/china/
New Zealand,
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/new-zealand/
Russia
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/russia
Egypt
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/egypt
Four of the above countries are reported to be using Avigan, or Favipiravir,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Favipiravir
https://www.trialsitenews.com/category/avigan/
Serrano
Health Minister Chris Hipkins told a media briefing on Sunday that the government was working to ensure adequate supplies of masks, which are currently recommended but not mandatory.
"We could make it compulsory and spend a lot of time on enforcement,
That would be a big mistake.
what we need here is a cultural acceptance amongst all New Zealanders,"
Hopefully the majority won't accept such an unnecessary measure.
Kumagaijin
The thing about Covid-19, is that it takes out the 'low hanging fruit' first as it spreads. All these countries everyone was praising in the early days (Singapore, Vietnam) still have that low hanging fruit. New Zealand is ripe and it just takes one person or even one suitcase with Covid-19 and it spreads like wildfire. Don't underestimate this virus.
Bobby Fizzicola
NZ deserves kudos. Nothing that has transpired in the last week has changed this assessment. Sure, they were naive with regards with the border worker testing, but they will learn their lesson from this and implement more stringent testing of border worker. This latest cluster is well on the way to being controlled and within another week, it should be well under control. However, what is most concerning is these clowns who feel it is their duty to spread misinformation on FB, twitter, and other social media platforms without any qualification to do so. It is alarming how many people take this nonsense seriously and repost it etc...
Bobby Fizzicola
I think the NZers are attempting to eliminate it again as it is a realistic and achievable goal. However, they will need to work on containing outbreaks such as this without a whole region or the whole country going into lockdown.
Bobby Fizzicola
All those people saying that NZ had an easy job because of the population size. Look at what transpired in Ireland. An island country with a similar population size. Almost 1,800 deaths versus 22. Night and day. NZs strategy stopped the virus dead. It reduced cases and deaths. Early in the outbreak they were tracking similarly.
n1k1
It is impossible. In fact, I think even with the vaccine and long after, people (perhaps not a lot) will catch the virus and those with compromised immunity by aging or otherwise will experience problems.
Rosalind Harris
"in two of its largest states, New South Wales and Victoria" I think it should be 'most populous'. NSW and VIC are two of the smallest states in Australia.
Bobby Fizzicola
This is clearly wrong. This is a reinfection event that has come into the country after the virus had been eliminated. Clearly, it is possible to eliminate the virus from a community...
n1k1
Well if by eliminate you mean " to the best of their knowledge and withing the PCR test constrains undetectable" .. sure we can pretend it is possible to "eliminate" the virus.
BurakuminDes
@ Serrano - yeah, Kiwis should rise up against "unnecessary" face masks like the most moronic sectors of other nations. Because that's all working out so well in the US, eh?
Stick to the US, mate.
wtfjapan
As decided by who? And according to what matrix?
as decided by statistics,, number of infections and deaths per capita compared to other countries, darn that science always destroys those in denial.
NZ currently 4.5/million. USA 510/million
basically both countries are at the opposite end of the scale.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1104709/coronavirus-deaths-worldwide-per-million-inhabitants/
wtfjapan
Hopefully the majority won't accept such an unnecessary measure.
doesn't matter what others think just what NZ thinks , over 90% of the population supported a strong lockdown and now they are reaping the benefits of that lockdown
Bobby Fizzicola
yes, there was likely no community transmission in NZ for a good three months. This means that there were no individuals within the population that were active vectors. Therefore, scientific consensus was that the virus was eliminated from the NZ population (imported cases not withstanding). I am not sure what more you want in order to accept that conjecture...
Bobby Fizzicola
@n1k1, you must understand, the NZ government was undertaking sentinel testing and detected nothing. Therefore, you are possibly holding the NZ government to impossibly high standards in order to suit your argument. If this is the case, there is no point in discussing this with you...
n1k1
It really takes just one mistake and several asymptomatic young and healthy going out clubbing and there you go again.
Eliminate is a rather strong word for any government. To me personally NZ government , the NZ scientist and everyone involved in the decision making process right now seem a bit fake and delusional.
It will not work, even with agriculture based economies, at some point people will start protesting. That is what I think.
Bobby Fizzicola
You justify your position using a weak ad hominem attack. I think that means we can all disregard everything you have written. The NZ government, scientific establishment, and decision makers seem a bit fake and delusional. Oh pray tell. How exactly are they delusional given that their method has worked so far. Where are your data? I cannot wait to see what statistics and modelling you have done to justify your position. Oh wait, it is just your feeling which clearly trumps the work of multiple researchers, decision makers and politicians that are more qualified than us both to make policies and manage a pandemic...Take it easy, good night...
Sevenseas
'Eliminate' was the word used by Director General of Health Bloomfield and PM Ardern, which caused confusion in the media. Bloomfield later clarified, saying, "I can just clarify we haven't eliminated it, and we haven't eradicated it.''
"He said elimination is about having a low number of cases, and a knowledge of where they're coming from and identifying people early."
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.rnz.co.nz/article/10d5bd63-f9aa-4152-8744-d7d26df357c1
Zaphod
wtfjapan
Actually, they are not, there are several countries both on the higher and lower end. And the worldwite country figures are all over. It is really pointless to compare different countries, as there so many differing factors.
Two things things you can say for sure about the NZ situation: They are not done with this, and they can not lock down forever.
Strangerland
No one who knows what they're talking about has ever claimed they were.
No one who knows what they're talking about has ever claimed they would.
Jtsnose
From above, fourth is,
Italy, https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/italy
ArtistAtLarge
New Zealand has done an amazing job and continues to do so.
I am appalled at the unfair criticisms.
ArtistAtLarge
Just a slightly correction wtfjapan: The United States population is 328 million.
Starbucks
@ artists at large
Read his post again it's per million not 510 million.
Zaphod
ArtistAtLarge
Did wtfjapan say anything different??
michaelqtodd
here in Queensland, Australia we have gone around 4 months or 120 days without any community transmissions or deaths. I never noticed much of a lockdown. Restaurants and schools were closed for a while. Maybe 2 months maximum. Have been playing golf, tennis and going to the beach all year. Barely any businesses or industries shut down at all. No masks. Just responsible behaviour.
About the same population as New Zealand. New Zealand infection seems to have come in on frozen food. Only 7 cases there yesterday all traced to same cluster. Should be gone there by the end of the week.
JohnSmith
Sweden did it right. Be like Sweden.
memoryfix
John Smith
Yes. Let it go through.
I think that ultimately it’s the same with climate change. I would be willing to bet that those who favor the lockdowns also support strict limitations on industry, solar and wind power etc..
It’s a mindset.
Zaphod
memoryfix
Yes. Largely the same group that thought Deepwater Horizon was the end of the world, and then transitioned to Fukushima being the end of the world. Every new disaster a jour is the end of the world.
michaelqtodd
This is a masterclass on how to control an outbreak. Swift, decisive action and a lot of testing and contact tracing then isolating in quarantine camp. Just announced that only 7 new cases in New Zealand today. All seem to be related to original cluster. Should hopefully be back to zero by the end of the week and everything back to normal by end of the month
JohnSmith
Until the next time.
JohnSmith
At which point people will be even more fed up than this time around. They still haven't even traced where this cluster came from and you're calling it a masterclass? Rolling lockdowns until a vaccine is found - a masterclass in destroying an economy & eroding trust
michaelqtodd
Economy is doing great. Export earnings are up. Milk and vegetable prices are doing particularly well. House prices are up. A lot. New business starts are up. Trust is great. Have not heard of anyone being fed up. Cluster looks like it came from food at Americold packing business in Mt Wellington.
What would you be doing differently if you were running things John?
JohnSmith
Are you in NZ, Michael? I suggest you expand your bubble a little bit or a least take a peep outside it.
Toasted Heretic
This is quite an irresponsible thing to hope for.