[ishan12]

It is no small feat and must be appreciated. No matter the population, but having the entire country to be COVID free in a times like now is a big big achievement. Certainly all their decisions and efforts paid off.

But it is sad to see that the general mood on this forum usually is that of cynicism, criticism and pessimism when it comes to their own country and the administration/ government. We have done great in places like Bangalore, Assam, Kerala, Goa etc and credit must be given where due. But the current labour migration specially from Mumbai and Delhi is bringing back COVID into these places. NZ has no such complications.
Our country has come out stronger from worst economic situations in the past and have been on a steady growth path even with the most corrupt/incompetent leaders/ governments at the top for most years. I am sure we will come out stronger from this situation too.

[Sree]

Well , it lasted for less than a week.
Without a vaccine coming soon, there’s no point in these small victories. For, how long can a country or state remain isolated from the rest of the world.
They allowed two people to come from UK and their zero case claim went toast.

Closer home, the same is happening in Kerala. There were pages written on the Kerala model. Once the expatriates and people from other states were allowed back in, we are now growing faster than the national rate.

[RMN]

Congrats to NZ! Great job.

And I would recommend people to stay away from comparing them to any other nation due to the several variables & factors involved. Rather than using this as an opportunity to criticize anyone, lets just appreciate the Kiwis!

[Sutripta]

Arden furious. Defense forces to handle quarantine protocol of border arrivals.

The two women 'contacted' 320 others. For a sparsely populated country, that is quite an achievement! And 'compassionate exemption', the clause under which the two women were allowed to leave their quarantine facilities has been scrapped.

Sutripta


Sutripta

[anks_at]

I live in NZ, & am from India. I have my heart & family split up in both places, & any achievement or failure in any of these 2 places, personally brings out many emotions in me. I feel happy when something good happens in either of these places & bad, when something bad happens.

With that background:
What works most for NZ: MOST people, mostly listen.
The medical system is not what controlled the spread, the low population didnt, the geographical location didnt, also the government enforcement machinery didnt. No unique technology or innovative method used either.
Infact, the medical system is ill equipped & was not well prepared to be overrun by Covid-19 running wild. We heard numerous issues with less or missed testing, lack of PPE, conflicting interpretations by different people of the same rule, & various other issues heard elsewhere. Even the execution by the government was hardly stellar or perfect - they just do not know how to control things & even lack the conviction to be harsh enough to be able to do that. Incompetence is also ocassionally seen. As also confusion. The policing too is sort of a joke. The resources that this country has in terms of manpower, technology or money to spend, is also pretty limited.

My whole point is, it was the citizens who did it - by just keeping their head down & listening to the government, MOSTLY - even when there were a lot of things going wrong all around.
Most people didn't find reasons to do their own thing, because of seemingly justifiable reasons such as poverty (yes it is there here too), religious needs & beliefs, political needs & beliefs, family needs, employment needs, stupidity, etc.
That is the ONLY reason it was possible.

That is where the people in India started well too, but eventually failed to keep themselves in check. MANY people in India did well, but not MOST. I find it difficult to put a number in my sentence as to the difference between MANY & MOST, but maybe you will be able to understand it.
The government (unless its a country like China) can only do as much. It can control the situation only if MOST people control themselves & it can then deal with a really tiny fraction of people, to keep the overall situation in control.
Obviously, India due to its denser, larger & poorer population had a more difficult task than many other countries in the world. I have my closest family in India, & the situation there, brings me no joy that I am living in a place, where this was achieved.

Hope nothing in my post offends anyone - that intention is not there, even if I may not have chosen the best words to convey what I mean.

[smooth indian]

Good job NZ! Well done PM Jacinda Arden.

However, please don't take a victory lap just yet. For one the crisis isn't completely over yet. And second, we live in an era of mindless partisanship throughout the world fueled by technology and social media. Your success(and any hint of lack thereof) and celebration will be used by your admirers and detractors for pushing their own narrow agendas. It might cause difficulties for those suffering directly and those on the frontlines.

[SoumenD]

Kudos to the people of this wonderful country. I believe it's more of a credit to the population who are disciplined and listen to what authorities have to say.

However, it's too soon to declare themselves covid-free. I see they have 3 active cases again. This thing (covid) just keeps coming back .

Source

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by SoumenD

However it's too soon to declare themselves covid-free. I see they have 3 active cases again.

That was the result of being over confident and not following protocol at the border. Really stupid move. We were just 5 days away from being a month, clear of the virus. The Prime Minister has acknowledged the error on their part. She has deployed the military for assistance.

They let those initial two folk in, on compassionate grounds as they needed to attend a funeral in Wellington. They are now holed up at a quarantine facility and have also contact traced up to 300 people they may had had some level of contact with, right from the airplane to folks on the ground.

It was hilarious to read the news of the two new covid cases as they claimed to have driven down from Auckland to Wellington without a fuel stop and that is mostly impossible. Then they confirmed they used a diesel vehicle which makes it possible to cover ~500km. They also said the two people in the car took a dump in the open, so as to avoid any infection being transmitted by using public rest rooms.

[libranof1987]

Some developments in NZ: a nice mix of a political circus, stupidity by people themselves, and authorities.

There are a number of issues Ardern is having to contend with. But at the heart of her woes is COVID-19 and a bizarre blunder which has seen the county go from coronavirus free to potentially having, once again, local transmission of the virus.

It started with two British visitors who on June 7, like all arrivals into the country, were placed into hotel quarantine for 14 days. But they didn’t stay there anywhere near that long

During their time inside the Novotel hotel in Auckland, the health ministry decreed everyone in quarantine should only be allowed out after two negative COVID-19 tests.

Six days later the two women were allowed to leave quarantine on compassionate grounds and drive 650kms to Wellington to visit a dying relative. They got lost and on the way met up with a couple of friends who gave them directions.

In Wellington both tested positive for coronavirus. It has since emerged neither was tested in the hotel – not even once. It was the nation’s first COVID cases for three weeks.

https://www.news.com.au/finance/work...18a71d597fb3a3

[Sutripta]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...nd-buy-alcohol

New Zealand having too many jail, sorry quarantinebreaks!

Sutripta

[Samurai]

US State department warns citizens about travelling to New Zealand.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sfeIoNGq2k

[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by Samurai

US State department warns citizens about travelling to New Zealand.

Late night comedians in the US getting free material from the State Dept.

[am1m]

When are governments around the world going to realize we cannot regulate, ban, lockup or image-manage our way out of a pandemic? A medical issue needs to be solved medically.

Anyway some countries are still denying community spread, even when the fact has been obvious for months!

[DigitalOne]

New Zealand back in lockdown after 4 cases of Covid-19 detected in Auckland.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has delayed the dissolution of Parliament - a key step towards the Pacific nation's upcoming general election.

[DigitalOne]

Jacinda Ardern delays election over coronavirus fears

The prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, has postponed the country's general election by a month amid a spike in coronavirus cases.

The vote was due to take place on 19 September but will now be held on 17 October instead.