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March 17, 2020 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 17 March 2020

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General Debate

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Maggie Pie

Andrexia – fear of running out of toilet paper.
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March 17, 2020 8:03am
- Tony Stuart
  
  I’ve heard the reason for panic buying of toilet paper is because every time someone coughs, hundreds of people sh*t themselves!
  
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  March 17, 2020 8:08am
  - Biscuit
    
    It’s a real Catch Twenty-Poo situation, Tony!
    
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    March 17, 2020 8:09am
  - Maggie Pie
    
    And I see where the Westgate Pak-N-Save is reporting Hobsonville residents are STILL panic buying…… for God’s sake!
    
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ETLkT-2WoAkop5H?format=jpg&name=small
    
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    March 17, 2020 8:22am
    - Lance
      
      The Countdown on Lincoln Rd has WAY too much stock of toilet paper and water bottles now, it’s protruding way out in to the isle, maybe the great unwashed don’t shop there?
      Only shortage is hand santiser.
      
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      March 17, 2020 9:47am
      - Fletch
        
        The guy who invented sanitizer must be rubbing his hands together….
        
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        March 17, 2020 10:49am
      - Maggie Pie
        
        @Fletch
        The BBC are reporting that ‘Louis Vuitton’ will also be making Hand Sanitizer!
        
        Should look good sitting on basins in the ensuites 🙂
        
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        March 17, 2020 11:14am
    - tui47
      
      Still buying at Remuera as well. Lots of products completely out of stock.
      
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      March 17, 2020 1:03pm
      - Maggie Pie
        
        I know Tui.
        Went to Remmers NW earlier on, and completely out of Guylian!
        Talk about panic. Ended up heading over to the Greenlane Countdown and bought all the stock they had on the shelf.
        
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        March 17, 2020 3:36pm
  - Tall Man
    
    Nope, it’s those unexpected ardern popups.
    
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    March 17, 2020 8:27am
    - Tony Stuart
      
      Is that popup, or poop-up?
      
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      March 17, 2020 9:26am
  - DeepBlue
    
    Public health announcement: Everyone is now to take laxatives. Population will be too scared to cough.
    
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    March 17, 2020 8:55am
  - Odakyu-sen
    
    More toilet sign humor to keep with the times:
    
    “Keep Calm and Reach for the Brush.”
    
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    March 17, 2020 9:48am
  - Aunty
    
    Well, that gave me a laugh, Tony, thanks for that!
    
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    March 17, 2020 10:42am
- MCos
  
  Get a bum gun
  https://theculturetrip.com/asia/thailand/articles/11-heroic-tips-for-using-southeast-asias-bum-guns/
  
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  March 17, 2020 8:16am
  - Ian Boag
    
    nzhomeware.co.nz
    
    Round Water Bidets Toilet Sprayer Kit $29
    
    or just Google Bunnings toilet spray
    
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    March 17, 2020 8:51am
  - Libertarians are right
    
    Bad idea. Jacinda will probably ban those in the next round of gun bans.
    
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    March 17, 2020 9:57am
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  Garden hose through the window. Insta bidet.
  
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  March 17, 2020 8:41am
- Paulus Gnome
  
  Purex – when you give the toilet paper stash to her in the settlement
  
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  March 17, 2020 8:55am
- Nermal
  
  Some people aren’t shaking hands because of the Corona virus. I’m not shaking hands because everyone’s out of toilet paper
  
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  March 17, 2020 10:27am
Tony Stuart

Happy St Patrick’s Day. For God’s sake, don’t let anyone spit into your Guinness today, t’be sure!
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March 17, 2020 8:07am
- pdm
  
  Not going to be much of a St Patricks day in Ireland if the pubs are closed.
  
  Or do they not close until the 18th?
  
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  March 17, 2020 8:59am
jp_1983

Picks for 2pm?

Wage and price freeze
Rent freeze – no evictions or terminations on private and commercial rentals.
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March 17, 2020 8:10am
- KevO'Brien
  
  Communist lock down.
  
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  March 17, 2020 8:21am
  - Simon
    
    “Communist lock down”
    
    Careful comrade spreading of non-state sanctioned information is not allowed. Under new powers from 2 pm the commies in Wellington will have you arrested.
    
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    March 17, 2020 8:27am
- KiWombat
  
  Announcement that we can’t meet the KiwiBuild target because of Coronavirus?
  
  Or the Dominion Road tramway?
  
  Or child poverty reduction targets?
  
  Personally I would favour reeling in the PGF and saving those billions for the rainy day that is no doubt coming !!
  
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  March 17, 2020 8:42am
  - rouppe
    
    One could argue that now is precisely when the provinces need some support…
    
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    March 17, 2020 8:46am
    - KiWombat
      
      Quite agree rouppe, perhaps we could allocate spending on a province by province basis rather than most of it being funneled into Northland.
      
      And continuing to spend millions on trees – that should just be a no brainer !
      
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      March 17, 2020 10:38am
  - RW Capitalist
    
    or $220 mill for a stadium in Christchurch?
    
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    March 17, 2020 8:54am
- MT_Tinman
  
  The postponing of the Sept. elections until the CoL declare an end to the state of emergency – approx 2120.
  
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  March 17, 2020 9:18am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    See:
    https://publicaddress.net/legalbeagle/pandemic-preparedness-and-the-new-zealand/
    
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    March 17, 2020 9:36am
- Apteryx
  
  Tax increases for high earners. The government had overspent before the virus came along, and Covid-19 provides perfect cover for stinging the ‘rich pricks’.
  
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  March 17, 2020 10:06am
- Paulus
  
  And June election before the shit really hurts !
  
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  March 17, 2020 1:40pm
G152

Seems that if you dont have a life you’ll live through this virus
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March 17, 2020 8:10am
- MCos
  
  Or vice versa in the case of Keith Richards, innit.
  
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  March 17, 2020 8:19am
Happychappy

Jacinda will be most unhappy with what the experts are saying.
Coronavirus, Public Health experts urged Government to go ‘ even further ‘,
Close Schools , Stop Pulic Transport.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/03/coronavirus-public-health-expert-urges-govt-to-go-even-further-close-schools-stop-public-transport.html
How will she able to cope with out having the school children to tell their parents how great she is.
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March 17, 2020 8:12am
- Albert_Ross
  
  Closing schools is an awful idea. It will mean thousands of parents either having to take time off work or getting the kids’ grandparents, who are far more vulnerable to the virus, to look after them, with consequences likely far worse than any risk avoided by keeping children away from school.
  
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  March 17, 2020 8:27am
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    It’s inevitable. We will need at least 2 weeks hard lockdown along with testing of anyone with symptoms during that period to eliminate WuFlu in NZ. And a real 2 week quarrantine for arrivals. Within a week half the OECD will be doing it. We can take the pain now when it is easy or later when there are 100’s of cases and it is hard.
    
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    March 17, 2020 9:24am
  - Aunty
    
    I agree. It should only be done once we have confirmed cases of community transmission within New Zealand that have no obvious link to international travelers.
    
    And that is why we need surveillance testing for COVID-19 so that community transmission can be identified early and schools closed quickly.
    
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    March 17, 2020 10:56am
  - Ruahine
    
    It is not the schooled that should be closed. It was the air border 2 weeks ago.
    
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    March 17, 2020 11:10am
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    33 US states have closed schools so far.
    
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    March 17, 2020 3:16pm
- SGA
  
  Jacinda will be most unhappy with what the experts are saying.
  
  The problem is that different experts are saying different things. Britian’s experts are adopting a completely different approach. Germany seems to be managing its situation at least as well as France with fewer closures. Canada and Australia are yet to close schools, and they are a bit further down the road than us. All these experts can’t be right?
  
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  March 17, 2020 8:37am
  - Nickc2
    
    Yes, haven’t heard a word from that shower of wankers that comprise the UN. Perhaps they are in cahoots with the mad Chinese scientist who released the virus.
    
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    March 17, 2020 9:58am
    - mikenmildagain
      
      You are perhaps unaware that WHO is an agency of the UN.
      
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      March 17, 2020 10:26am
      - Nickc2
        
        I will take your word on that, thanks.
        
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        March 17, 2020 11:18am
  - Billy Collins
    
    Germany is closing everything. Schools are closed.
    
    Only supermarkets, banks, post offices, gas stations, and pharmacies are continuing as normal. Everything else is either closed or heavily restricted.
    
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    March 17, 2020 10:40am
    - SGA
      
      My mistake – it is hard to keep pace with things. That must be fairly recent.
      
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      March 17, 2020 11:21am
    - Nickc2
      
      What would you expect? Hitler’s twin sister is in charge.
      
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      March 17, 2020 12:16pm
- Exclamation Mark
  
  As pointed out on the Joe Rogan podcast with infectious disease expert Michael Osterholm – closing schools is not a great idea for a couple of reasons. Chief amongst them is the fact that a large portion of of our nursing staff are working mums: do you want them at home looking after their kids or working in our hospitals which are going to be stretched like never before?
  
  I recommend watching the podcast if you haven’t seen it: https://youtu.be/E3URhJx0NSw)
  
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  March 17, 2020 9:05am
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    Govt has to provide free childcare for essential workers. Vast numbers are off work so should be able to do it – though likely need billeting to prevent spread.
    
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    March 17, 2020 9:27am
    - Nickc2
      
      Arnt childcare centers now called Early Education Centers which to me means they are now schools and as such, will be closed by government regulation.
      
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      March 17, 2020 10:04am
      - Evadne
        
        We could close all the schools to prevent groups of children mixing together.
        
        Then set up child care centres to look after the children while their parents are working. They’d have to be large enough to be viable…we can’t realistically provide in-home child care for everyone. So we could group local kids together, and provide trained people to look after them.
        
        That would need space.. somewhere with lots of rooms and outdoor exercise areas, as we don’t want the kids shut up together all day. We could use all those empty school buildings … they’d be perfect.
        
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        March 17, 2020 5:16pm
  - madamezucchininz
    
    …..it was an excellent pod cast……and our PM is continually talking about Taiwan and what they have done…..well we haven’t followed them at all…..as early as December 31st they stopped all cruise ships and then when they only had a couple of cases they brought in self isolation…extended the school holidays and started self isolation….managing this with government issued cell phones and you had to have this on your person the whole time, and answer when they randomly called as well as a GPS tracker letting the police know where you are, were among 124 actions their government took…..they were on to it immediately and have very few cases which is surprising considering their proximity to China . We on the other hand seem to be following what Italy did, which is to move far too slowly when the disease was roaming the streets. It seems to me that the PM is looking more and more like a bunny caught in the head lights and making statements like “we will enforce quarantine and put a police officer at the door”….really….
    
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    March 17, 2020 12:10pm
- Akarak
  
  Will she cancel the Waiheke ferry service or force it to limit the number of passengers that can on-board each journey? It must be a microbial paradise.
  
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  March 17, 2020 9:14am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    More likely in an extreme contingency all public transport will be severely curtailed.
    
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    March 17, 2020 9:37am
  - SGA
    
    @Akarak
    
    Will she cancel the Waiheke ferry service
    
    Isn’t the idea is to use Waiheke as a quarantine centre for infected Aucklanders?
    
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    March 17, 2020 10:04am
    - Rich Prick
      
      Well, it does a good job keeping the hippies off Auckland’s streets.
      
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      March 17, 2020 10:53am
Monique Watson

Worst kept secret in the East Bay:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/amp/Bay-Area-to-shelter-in-place-What-you-need-15135087.php

I’d better stock up. Worst thing is they’ve closed The libraries.

I’ve heard this via DC and a firefighter.
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March 17, 2020 8:14am
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  Bay Area probably has the highest average intelligence of anywhere on the planet. So unsurprising that they are doing the sensible thing of ‘going early’ on a lock-down when it is cheaper and more effective.
  
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  March 17, 2020 8:51am
hullkiwi

What is it about our politicians and their 2 bit advisors. Do they not get it, that misinformed advice causes panic and half ars* is just as bad.

Yesterday, on RNZ, Jacinda about school closures. “The evidence we’ve had is dony close schools, because grandparents look after the children and they could get it from the children”. So, is it better to have a community of dick school children passing it between themselves and bringing it home to parents?

Or on the economic package. Nana from BERL – who feeds Rob, “the package has to be tailored to support the poor”. Wrong the virus does not discriminate. All families, well off or not, need incomes to support themselves, small businesses are 80% of NZ. The whole country will need support not just a few.
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March 17, 2020 8:17am
- MrTips
  
  Dick school children? How rude.
  
  And when Cindy only listens to her fan club of Wiles, Dickinson and Gerrard (no gender imbalance there, no sirree), its no wonder she’s not on top of it.
  
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  March 17, 2020 8:51am
  - hullkiwi
    
    Apologies read “sick”. Fat finger syndrome.
    
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    March 17, 2020 9:59am
Misha Beattie

Trust RNZ to point out this silver lining. FFS.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018738710/covid-19-climate-change-emissions-drop-as-travel-bans-hit

“Victoria University director of environmental studies Professor Ralph Chapman said the very swift international response to Covid-19 had been in stark contrast to how governments responded to climate change.

“I don’t want to be alarmist but there’s the potential for climate change to generate hundreds of millions of deaths – and that is a different order of magnitude, a much bigger scale than the impact of Covid.”
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March 17, 2020 8:21am
- Doctor Who
  
  Yeah, climate “science” is not real science. American Physical Society which calls the evidence “incontrovertible”. Fools.
  
  What would some of the brightest minds on the planet know, eh? Stick with Farrar’s Followers, buddy, the real experts.
  
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  March 17, 2020 9:17am
  - Misha Beattie
    
    Where did I say it wasn’t real? I devoted several years to working on climate change policy. I was simply pointing out that conflating climate change with covid 19 is not helpful.
    
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    March 17, 2020 10:14am
- hullkiwi
  
  Misha, they have also been pointing at clear skies for the first time in generations in China. All because Chinese factories have been closed.
  
  Case of the blindingly obvious!
  
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  March 17, 2020 9:57am
- coge
  
  The new gig is virus control. As there will likely be more of this in future. The world needs to set strict early protocols for future events. Forget about a career in “climate science” The funding will dry up.
  
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  March 17, 2020 10:26am
- TWEEDSE
  
  If anyone is buying toilet paper it will be those making a living out of climate change. They must be so worried that they are not centre stage anymore. And their funding might be diverted to the real problem we have.
  
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  March 17, 2020 12:13pm
Andrei

Breaking News: Tom Hanks catches a cold and the world goes into lockdown
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March 17, 2020 8:21am
- Doctor Who
  
  Putin Bot?
  
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  March 17, 2020 9:17am
Two fish and a scoop thanks Cindy

So, now that the first anniversary of you know what has been and gone peacefully, can the Fuzz give the Jaffa’s their whirligig back?
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March 17, 2020 8:21am
oldpark

What a bloody indictment. Thanks Peters. Ever since Peters went against the wishes of NZs voters at the 2017 General Election and selected the present Regime. Since then the good ship NZ with its real Captains and First Mate has been slowly foundering . Yes English/ Joyce were meant to be in charge of NZs well being .
Instead we have a couple of never wases or never will Ardern/ Robertson be in the same category of English/ Joyce.
Once the Coronavirus has kicked in the present defacto Government have been running scared . Not knowing what to do and where to go for help .
Finally they had to go cap in hand and take their economy instructions from Australia.
Finally today the Peters selected Regime will try to save some face and make an announcement on NZs future .
Most of us will think is it too little too late when they found out Virtual Signalling by Ardern was not a good idea after all . Just one case in point the planned for Christchurch Memorial on March 15 2020 .They Couda , Shouda. Wouda. Just saying.
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March 17, 2020 8:22am
Simon

Labor, National & sundry bent mayors better start looking for other major donors because the CCP aint the future.
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March 17, 2020 8:23am
Biscuit

Self-isolation – with no computer access for 14 days – for the daft sod who has gone and downticked every single Kiwiblog post today (well, as 8.26am)…
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March 17, 2020 8:27am
Maggy Wassilieff

I think summer has ended in Gisborne.
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March 17, 2020 8:34am
- rouppe
  
  Was just up there for the surf lifesaving Nationals. Three days standing on midway beach.
  
  Not cold, I guess, but wet, windy and somewhat unpleasant.
  
  And people go on about Wellington weather…
  
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  March 17, 2020 8:48am
- Tarquin North
  
  Not too flash up here in Northland.
  
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  March 17, 2020 8:49am
  - hullkiwi
    
    Has the rain come yet? In Rodney, we’ve had overcast and a bit of drissle by the time I left at 6.45am
    
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    March 17, 2020 10:02am
- Paulus Gnome
  
  Winter is coming Maggie ?
  
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  March 17, 2020 9:00am
- iainh
  
  Tauranga too.
  
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  March 17, 2020 9:03am
- Doctor Who
  
  Stable climate for the 10,000 years civilisation developed over is coming to an end in Gizbin too.
  
  Mean global surface temperature likely >4K above preindustrial by 2100 if GHG emissions continue at the present rate. You’ll be eating Prickly Pears. 🙂
  
  If you don’t like science have you tried MoreTricksZone or NotaLotofTwotsKnowThat for the real deal on SARS-CoV-2/Covid-19?
  
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  March 17, 2020 9:32am
Tall Man

Now don’t get me wrong, this virus is a serious matter for those in the risk group, but imagine the fallout if this was a genuine threat that affected everyone it affected with a death rate around 20%.

We have seen knife fights over toilet paper, people willfully ignoring requests to self isolate, travelling when possibly infected and throwing decency out the window and hoarding needlessly.

This virus has brought out the “disgusting” in people and from what I see many want to be seen as the “prophets of doom” so they can tell everyone they “saw” the threat first.

Will we see half a million dead in the UK, I don’t know but “experts” say we “might”.

Many of us have a problem with the climate alarmist “scientists” but on this ,matter we blithely accept every quasi experts “opinion” that world is doomed.

FFS, be careful but stop behaving like demented sausage dogs is all I can say.

Downtick to your heart’s content doomers 😉
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March 17, 2020 8:37am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  For some folks it was obvious what would take place when you have a new zoonotic virus introduced into a very mobile bunch of humans lacking immunity.
  (basic biology).
  
  I don’t think it is the end of the world….but it is a major disruption for many folks and may well be for another couple of years.
  
  On Monday, Prof Baker said the virus’ spread was unlike anything seen in recent times.
  
  “No one alive today has really been through a pandemic like this,” he said, predicting that it could be another year or so until it was “business as usual” in New Zealand.
  
  https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/03/coronavirus-public-health-expert-urges-govt-to-go-even-further-close-schools-stop-public-transport.html
  
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  March 17, 2020 9:03am
- SGA
  
  This virus has brought out the “disgusting” in people and from what I see many want to be seen as the “prophets of doom” so they can tell everyone they “saw” the threat first.
  
  There might be some truth in that, TallMan. Also people can hate the idea of things being out of their control. They want to be “doing” something (even if it is buying toilet paper 🙂 ), and everyone else should be doing things as well and what’s being done is never enough. True, sometimes there are important things that you can do, but sometimes you can expend a lot of time and energy doing things of marginal utility (but it makes you feel better doing them), and sometimes all you can do is sit back and wait for things to unfold.
  
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  March 17, 2020 9:31am
  - Sacha
    
    I think it’s more about people claiming their ‘rights’. and disowning their responsibilities (if they were ever aware of them).
    There is no balance.
    Plus, the noise they can make on the internet go es them a false sense of their own importance.
    
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    March 17, 2020 9:47am
Maggie Pie

Ardern says her government is seriously considering re-introducing ‘single-use plastic bags’.
They now realise just how hygienic they really are, rather than customers being required to bring their own ‘reusable bags’, which are at risk of both carrying and disseminating the Coronavirus.
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March 17, 2020 8:39am
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  Needs to be a few months of delivery only groceries. Plastic bags that don’t fall apart like paper would help that a lot.
  
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  March 17, 2020 9:30am
- lifesgood
  
  The super markets would scream blue murder if she did that. They have made a very tidy sum in savings since that ridiculous rule came in.
  
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  March 17, 2020 9:31am
- artemisia
  
  But but but the turtles ….
  
  Of course those eco bags go into the washing machine regularly. LOL as if. It’s not just Covid-19 secreted in their virtuous folds either. I think I read on KB a while back that a mouse jumped out of one at the checkout operator. At least it wasn’t a Wuhan bat.
  
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  March 17, 2020 10:51am
- KevO'Brien
  
  Can Ardern stand little Greta’s anger?
  
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  March 17, 2020 5:32pm
Simon

There hasnt been a real income tax cut since October 2010. (There was a very minor change one year earlier which caused Cullen to shit his pants)

Apart from October 2010 no real income tax cuts since the Bolger government.

All powerful state useless in the face of the panic of the Wuhan virus. All that tax revenue and when State really needed just watch how fucking utterly useless at 2pm.
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March 17, 2020 8:40am
- Harriet
  
  Have two tax free income rates for life – you choose – the current one, or one at say $60k per person; and then you don’t get, baby bonus, childcare rebates, WFF, dole payment, single mum payment, aged pension.
  
  In other words, you keep your money and invest it, and purchase some insurance with the gains. You and your family will be far wealthier throughout your lives so long as you work and largely do the right thing. If something unexpected happens you have the insurance and the resources to continue on.
  
  The state won’t then be on every page of the news paper, every evening news, and all the news headlines, as the government won’t have as much relevance. You’ll have your life back! 😎
  
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  March 17, 2020 9:14am
  - Ian Boag
    
    Look into the Singapore model …
    
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    March 17, 2020 9:30am
Ruahine

I do hope Lesina does not get the corona virus.
5 1
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March 17, 2020 8:42am
MrTips

Seeing as so many celebrities have come down with COVID-19, when John Travolta turned up to the hospital with a cough and temperature, they immediately ran a SARs-CoV2 test.

Fortunately, it just turned out to be a florid case of….

Saturday Night Fever.

(grabs coat)
29 1
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March 17, 2020 8:49am
- Frank Thomas
  
  Yes, apparently he’s Stayin’ Alive…….
  
  25 1
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  March 17, 2020 9:15am
- mikenmildagain
  
  “If I Can’t Have Flu”
  
  14 3
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  March 17, 2020 9:39am
  - MrTips
    
    Damn you MMA, that wasn’t bad at all. Now I have earworms.
    I shall respond with “M…M…..M….My Corona” by The Knack
    
    14 0
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    March 17, 2020 9:44am
- Odakyu-sen
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRs0OqV4uSc
  
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  March 17, 2020 9:51am
MCos

Destiny Church leader Tamaki, always seems to be able to command a ready audience with the main media outlets far beyond his importance in Auckland, let alone NZ.
He has announced that he’s going to do just what he likes whatever that Sheila in Wellington says.
Of course there is a question over whether the church can rustle up 500 faithful these days.

Gloriavale Christian Community could be a different story . . . .
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March 17, 2020 8:51am
surfing

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12317101

The aussie guy who visited Wellington before knowing the results of his corona virus test….

Reading his side of the story, seems like he was doing more than what he should have.He took the test voluntarily, not because he had any symptoms.

The brutal online retaliation against him has been quite disgusting in my view.
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March 17, 2020 8:52am
- MCos
  
  I think the mistake he made was to carry on his journey to a different jurisdiction before finding out the result of his test.
  He obviously had some doubt about his health to take the test & a positive result, no matter how small, was a possibility with very serious consequences.
  
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  March 17, 2020 9:41am
Maggy Wassilieff

When community transmission of the coronovirus occurred in S.Korea, extensive testing of the population has been the key to controlling the spread.

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-51897979/coronavirus-south-korea-seeing-a-stabilising-trend
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March 17, 2020 8:53am
Andrei

COVID-19 Pan~~dem~~ic
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March 17, 2020 8:57am
- Doctor Who
  
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Death
  
  The Black Death probably originated in Central Asia or East Asia, from where it travelled along the Silk Road, reaching Crimea by 1343.
  
  …devastating pandemics in human history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 200 million people in Eurasia …
  
  The plague disease, caused by Yersinia pestis, is enzootic (commonly present) in populations of fleas carried by ground rodents … Due to climate change in Asia, rodents began to flee the dried-out grasslands to more populated areas, spreading the disease.
  
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  March 17, 2020 9:57am
  - rangitoto
    
    “Due to climate change”
    
    Don’t tell me that climate change can happen without SUVs and coal power stations. Greta will be most upset.
    
    15 1
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    March 17, 2020 10:46am
otago-man

This Govt. was heading us for recession before corona, amid record or near record prices for logs, meat, dairy, etc, record tourism and record low interest rates. How this was possible I cannot fathom . Now how can we expect this incompetent bunch to get us through what lies ahead, Lord help us all.
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March 17, 2020 8:58am
Andrew Worth

We should just close the borders, What we have now maintains the risk at little economic benefit. If there’s confidence of no community spread and no chance of it coming into the country everyone here can just carry on living normally, a vacation overseas would be out but one in NZ would be back on.

Essential travel into NZ would require quarantining until certainty of non-infection.
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March 17, 2020 8:59am
Prince

Question. Why would we let in anyone who indicated they were here for 2 weeks or less ? Just turn them around and show them the door.
26 1
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March 17, 2020 9:07am
- Tony Stuart
  
  Absolutely agree. In fact, they shouldn’t even be allowed to board aircraft in the country they are traveling from.
  
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  March 17, 2020 9:24am
- Local Miller
  
  This of course means ALL short term visits are off. My son was supposed to attend the Adelaide Juggling Convention in April, but the event is only 4 days. There’s no way he can fly in 2 weeks early to self isolate, attend the convention, then self isolate again on this side. In all likelihood now, the convention will be cancelled anyway.
  
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  March 17, 2020 9:50am
- SGA
  
  Why would we let in anyone who indicated they were here for 2 weeks or less ?
  
  And that’s why AirNZ is having to cut 85% of its long haul flights.
  
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  March 17, 2020 10:09am
Ruawai

Close the borders now except freight.
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March 17, 2020 9:14am
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  Keep borders open with real (not Clayton’s) 2 week quarantine, won’t be many flying, but no reason not to.
  
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  March 17, 2020 9:33am
  - Random T Person
    
    Can someone please explain to me the usage of ‘Clayton’s’ here. I have seen it over the years, have googled extensively, and still have no proper understanding of the term. Thanks in advance.
    
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    March 17, 2020 10:03am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      Claytons was a faux whisky (non-alcoholic).
      
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      March 17, 2020 10:47am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylH43Tcaj60
      
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      March 17, 2020 10:49am
      - Random T Person
        
        thank you Maggy.
        
        7 0
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        March 17, 2020 11:09am
      - mikenmildagain
        
        There was also the Jack Thompson one – can’t find it on YouTube though:
        “What are ya drinking?”
        “Claytons: the drink you have when you’re not having a drink.”
        
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        March 17, 2020 11:22am
Scooter

Best time if you’re an agoraphobic or introvert, yay!!
6 1
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March 17, 2020 9:26am
alloytoo

When the terror thriller comes out about the contagious bio-threat to be spread by infected Uber Eats and DHL delivery people.

You heard it here first.
7 2
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March 17, 2020 9:27am
kevn

Great to listen to Stephen Joyce on Hosking. Clarity and gravitas. No flake.
29 1
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March 17, 2020 9:31am
Tony Stuart

There’s speculation that the election could actually be brought forward from 19th September. Whilst that may seem like turkeys voting for an early Christmas, there’s actually some logic behind it.

About 10 days before the election, the June quarter GDP figure is scheduled to be announced. If, as expected, it is negative, following on from negative growth in the March quarter (which is pretty much a given now), then we will officially be in recession. Would the PM and her MP’s really want to head into the election with the economy officially in recession? I doubt it.

I can see the PM deciding to go early, maybe as soon as June. Whilst the economy would be clearly going backwards, they would avoid the “R” word, and would campaign on their management of the COVID-19 outbreak, using it as the sole excuse the economy is tanking. They would hope to get back in on a wave of positive media coverage and goodwill towards the PM, and not much else.

And if Labour lost, it would be a National government in charge when a recession was officially declared, so there would be plenty of political mileage to be gained from the Opposition benches.

Will this happen? Let’s wait and see.
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March 17, 2020 9:36am
- Tarquin North
  
  Ask Winston – it will be his decision as always. Where is he anyway? Anyone have any idea?
  
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  March 17, 2020 9:52am
  - toby1845
    
    I commented to my wife last night the WP and his rabble have gone very quiet, and wondered aloud whether it might be that they are aware that the situation is more serious than the PTPM has given us to believe,and so don’t want to be associated with the decisions that are being made.
    
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    March 17, 2020 11:31am
    - Batman
      
      More likely that they are trying to blend into the scenery so we all forget Winston’s corrupt foundation and Shane’s awkward comment.
      
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      March 17, 2020 11:44am
  - calendar girl
    
    Right now he’s sitting in his regular seat in Parliament, the one alongside that allocated to the Prime Minister.
    
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    March 17, 2020 2:39pm
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  That would be seen as Cindy bailing out when the going got tough. Can’t see her winning on that basis, so unlikely to happen.
  And what would Winston think? Come to think of it, where the Hell is he? Hasn’t been heard of for nearly a week.
  
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  March 17, 2020 9:56am
  - oldfella
    
    Surely Winny will be standing alongside Cindy today at 2pm as she tells us how the COL is going to save our economy? Okay, not standing shoulder to shoulder, but a couple of metres away.
    And what about that poor sod who does the sign language? He’s standing much too close. Expect that to change soon as they move him well away and show him on a split screen.
    
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    March 17, 2020 10:47am
    - hilaryt
      
      Good.
      
      5 1
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      March 17, 2020 12:22pm
    - lifesgood
      
      Doesn’t Winston have lung disease? Highly vulnerable.
      
      4 1
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      March 17, 2020 12:34pm
oob

I want to see National propose a vote of no confidence in the House today.

Through their abject incompetence, the Labour-led government has unleashed a literal plague upon New Zealand and we desperately require competent political leadership to navigate our country through the crisis.

Kiwi lives are at stake. Cindy and her Muppets absolutely have to go.
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March 17, 2020 9:44am
- Ian Boag
  
  Yer wot? Labour has “unleashed this plague”? Simon and Paula would do it different – better … ?
  
  Aside from the fact that the motion would fail.
  
  Bananas.
  
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  March 17, 2020 9:59am
- SGA
  
  the Labour-led government has unleashed a literal plague
  
  I believe that a National-led government would have followed the same basic plan as the current lot (and the one that many countries are following). I would not expect a National-led government to be any less concerned by the economic, social and diplomatic consequences of extreme actions.
  
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  March 17, 2020 10:13am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    In fact, yesterday’s announcement on mass gatherings was pretty much what Simon Bridges had called for three days ago.
    
    However, it’s managing our way out of the crisis that has to be the priority, and historically, National has far more experience than Labour, whose mess National has often had to clean up!
    
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    March 17, 2020 10:56am
SB 2

On the plus side,

“ Coronavirus: US volunteers to test the first vaccine”

The first human trial of a vaccine to protect against pandemic Covid-19 coronavirus is starting in the US, according to reports.

A group of 45 healthy volunteers will have the jab, at the Kaiser Permanente research facility, in Seattle.

The vaccine cannot cause Covid-19 but contains a harmless genetic code copied from the virus that causes the disease.
Experts say it will still take many months to know if this vaccine, or others also in research, will work

Scientists around the world are fast-tracking research.
And this first human trial, funded by the National Institutes of Health, sidesteps a check that would normally be conducted – making sure the A group of 45 healthy volunteers will have the jab, at the Kaiser Permanente research facility, in Seattle.

The vaccine cannot cause Covid-19 but contains a harmless genetic code copied from the virus that causes the disease.
Experts say it will still take many months to know if this vaccine, or others also in research, will work.

Scientists around the world are fast-tracking research.

And this first human trial, funded by the National Institutes of Health, sidesteps a check that would normally be conducted – making sure making sure the vaccine can trigger an immune response in animals….”

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/411906/coronavirus-us-volunteers-to-test-first-vaccine

I make a bold prediction: a viable vaccine will be up and ready some time during April
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March 17, 2020 9:51am
- SGA
  
  I make a bold prediction: a viable vaccine will be up and ready some time during April
  
  this is at odds with what you cite earlier
  “Experts say it will still take many months to know if this vaccine, or others also in research, will work.”
  
  The 45 volunteers are gutsy though – a week or so ago, I was listening to someone on the radio (Kim Hill show?) saying that if you screw it up it can make the reaction to the target virus even worse.
  
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  March 17, 2020 11:15am
- KevO'Brien
  
  What are your qualifications for making such an assertion?
  Do you know the US Army created it and had it infect China and Iran their prime enemies and were hiring people throughout the USA during November last to help with care?
  
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  March 17, 2020 5:24pm
timmydevo

It’s official. All schools are closing on the 10th of April for two weeks.
17 1
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March 17, 2020 9:52am
- alloytoo
  
  I’ve been dreading this…….
  
  My work is closing for 4 days from April 10.
  
  7 0
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  March 17, 2020 10:04am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Someone should get crucified for that…
    
    7 4
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    March 17, 2020 11:23am
- Fletch
  
  That’s their normal holiday period, no?
  
  8 0
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  March 17, 2020 11:11am
  - SGA
    
    Yes, timmydevo is having fun,
    
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    March 17, 2020 11:25am
secondcumming

At 8am this morning, *North Korea Television* reported the country’s first official case of Coronavirus.

At 8.15am, they reported it had been fully cured.
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March 17, 2020 9:54am
- rangitoto
  
  Anti Aircraft gun?
  
  11 0
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  March 17, 2020 10:49am
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  Treated with a lead injection.
  
  6 0
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  March 17, 2020 1:00pm
  - Tall Man
    
    That’s a “special hug”……….. The one that real commies dream of.
    
    1 2
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    March 17, 2020 2:00pm
MCos

If you want to go to Thailand, and right now it might not be a good time, Covid-19 tests costs between $150 and $700 depending on the hospital.
The cheap prices might be just for locals at crowded hospitals with long queues and few people who speak English. You could jump through all the hoops and end up handing over $300 to the cashier.
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March 17, 2020 9:58am
Sacha

2020 is not working out too well for the CoL. Firstly, the March 15 ceremonies didn’t work out for for revitalising the PMs image, and now we have what could be described as the cluster**** of pandemic management.
And then we have the collapsing economy . . . . . . .
No, not a good year – and it’s only March
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March 17, 2020 10:00am
- KevO'Brien
  
  Wait till the GFC kicks in properly. Some tides cannot be held back.
  
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  March 17, 2020 5:19pm
Loddenthinks

Happy St Patrick’s Day! I raise a silent toast to my Irish ancestors and relatives. It has to be silent because all the bloody pubs are shut. Plus, it’s a bit early, you know.
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March 17, 2020 10:09am
- RalphT
  
  It’s never too early for us Irish
  
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  March 17, 2020 11:27am
SB 2

BBC Witness is running an excellent series on epidemics / pandemics

This oen looks at ” the vaccine that saved millions ”

In 1955 a group of scientists lead by Dr Jonas Salk developed the first effective polio vaaccine that was to make a huge difference to the lives of, especially children and their Parents. A disease that many a parent dreaded.

A disease that interestingly struck in Summer.

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/stories-51815496/the-vaccine-that-saved-millions

Well worth 9 minutes of your time when e.g having your morning cuppa
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March 17, 2020 10:10am
Happychappy

Coronavirus : Jacinda Arderns biggest task, heroic but modest.
This from the political editor on Stuff, and they wonder why they have the financial woes that needs help to stop them going broke.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/120322940/coronavirus-jacinda-arderns-biggest-task-heroic-yet-modest
Between Jacinda and Grant Robertson all they are doing is coping what other Governments are doing around the World. It would not surprise me if the package Robertson delivers to help will end up being the same as the hacked budget he delivered last year, “underwhelming” and lack of substance.
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March 17, 2020 10:16am
Maggie Pie

One of my partners best friends is a well known Merchant Banker.
He was saying that despite whats going down worldwide with the Coronavirus, the only family in the UK still with a huge smile on their face, are the Rothschilds.
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March 17, 2020 10:19am
- rangitoto
  
  Have they invested in a dunny paper factory?
  
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  March 17, 2020 10:50am
  - Maggie Pie
    
    All they have to do is sit and wait.
    
    6 4
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    March 17, 2020 11:16am
oldfella

Notice how quiet things have suddenly got with Ihumātao? Imagine splurging millions on this piece of nonsense while thousands of Kiwis face losing their jobs? Election winner right there. /sarc
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March 17, 2020 10:59am
Bobba Fret

I reckon this crowd are more likely to delay the election and have it later than September.
Covid-19 is now their “get out of jail free” card excuse for everything. The economy is in recession…blame the virus. Hospitals / health system not coping…due to the virus. Had to borrow more due to the virus. Even, haven’t been able to build enough homes for Kiwibuild…………..you guessed it! Due to the virus.
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March 17, 2020 11:16am
artemisia

Those folk with an interest in politics and official information (and sad lives obviously) will find the saga at the below link worth a look.

It relates to Dr Crampton’s attempt to get hold of the political leanings data from Inland Revenue’s attitudes survey last year. Not successful, yet, but will be since the Ombudsman has smacked IR quite hard.

http://offsettingbehaviour.blogspot.com/2020/03/ird-and-oia.html
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March 17, 2020 11:18am
Wired-one

Just when her government is floundering and the economy continues to nose drive. Ardern gets another opportunity for a “they are us” moment due to this Coronavirus. The opposition is silenced and any criticism of this government is seen by the media as politicizing a pandemic. Just as Duncan Garner said yesterday, Ardern gets a second term after all this. Ihumatao, Winston’s corruption, Shane Jones racist views and policy delivery no longer matter. May as well get used to it now folks, Ardern and Labour have won the next election on the back of crisis response and apathy from our media and fellow kiwis.
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March 17, 2020 11:43am
- Harriet
  
  “….Just as Duncan Garner said yesterday, Ardern gets a second term after all this…..”
  
  If she sticks to it being her Tampa moment.
  
  But if she turns it into a tampon moment — then it’s in the bag for Bridges.
  
  Coronavirus ain’t sexist. 😎
  
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  March 17, 2020 12:32pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Covid-19 at the forefront of QT today
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/order-paper-questions/list-of-oral-questions/oral-questions-17-march-2020/
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March 17, 2020 11:44am
Maggie Pie

My partner txts some ‘inside info’……

– Banks to forego Interest on all Business Overdrafts for a period of 3 months
– Councils to waive business rates for the next 2 quarters.
– All commercial landlords to give tenants 6 month rent holiday.
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March 17, 2020 11:46am
Kabull

I see the climate expert James Renwick is delighted by the COVID19 pandemic because it will reduce horrible global emissions. I wonder how he and other disciples of the climate change religion will react when there is no drop in the level of CO2, and no change in ‘global temperatures’.
This is a good opportunity to prove whether the scaremongering has validity or not.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/120301221/coronavirus-could-teach-us-how-to-mitigate-climate-change

[Mod: Renwick says nothing of the sort in the article. To avoid your comment being deleted for being defamatory you should stick to factual criticism. Such as Greenpeace actually using the virus to ‘climate proof’ NZ, as detailed later in the story.]
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March 17, 2020 12:17pm
- Monique Watson
  
  Yeah I saw that load of shit on Stuff. (Renwick) Regardless of the basis of any criticism it comes across as delighting in the misfortunes of the whole of humankind.
  
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  March 17, 2020 12:59pm
Harriet

Andrew Little has just announced that he hates individual autonomy. 😎
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March 17, 2020 12:27pm
Fletch

How long does the virus last on different materials? The paper hasn’t been peer reviewed, but here’s what they say –

Abstract HCoV-19 (SARS-2) has caused 88,000 reported illnesses with a current case-fatality ratio of ~2%. Here, we investigate the stability of viable HCoV-19 on surfaces and in aerosols in comparison with SARS- CoV-1. Overall, stability is very similar between HCoV-19 and SARS-CoV-1. We found that viable virus could be detected in aerosols up to 3 hours post aerosolization, up to 4 hours on copper, up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to 2-3 days on plastic and stainless steel. HCoV-19 and SARS-CoV-1 exhibited similar half-lives in aerosols, with median estimates around 2.7 hours. Both viruses show relatively long viability on stainless steel and polypropylene compared to copper or cardboard: the median half-life estimate for HCoV-19 is around 13 hours on steel and around 16 hours on polypropylene. Our results indicate that aerosol and fomite transmission of HCoV-19 is plausible, as the virus can remain viable in aerosols for multiple hours and on surfaces up to days.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.09.20033217v1.full.pdf
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March 17, 2020 12:35pm
toby1845

A day after saying he doesn’t believe that we will have a recession, our pathetic excuse for a Minister of Finance goes full retard to the other extreme. And to think we could have had Bill English, et al managing this.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12317340

Read it and weep.
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March 17, 2020 1:05pm
surfing

How much in total has been spent on Pike river to date? 30/60/100 million dollars?

I see now the government has just approved another 10 million plus 4 million contingency on top of the 36 million they’ve already given for the re-entry alone.

In addition, the re-entry is not even going beyond the drift, which is not even a re-entry. If they’re going in at all, surely it should be properly.

A job worth doing is a job worth doing well. So it seems, this job is not worth doing.

I consider being entombed in the heart of a mountain far preferable to a tiny little headstone in an crowded cemetery.
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March 17, 2020 1:09pm
rightoverlabour

Hipkins – Based on What evidence?

Schools, universities, polytechnics and early-childhood centres are “very, very safe places” to be despite the coronavirus pandemic, with the Education Minister confirming there are no firm plans to close them.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/120331175/coronavirus-no-scientific-reason-for-school-closures-education-minister-says#comments

So when Johnny picks up the virus at school takes it home and Poppa dies, we know who to blame….
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March 17, 2020 1:18pm
- Poppa
  
  For once in my life I actually agree with Hipkins
  
  At this stage there appears to be no logic in closing schools. Of course the teachers would have been pushing for it to get extra holidays but closing them makes no sense in my opinion
  
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  March 17, 2020 1:31pm
  - rightoverlabour
    
    Why do we have to wait for community transmission to occur before we close the schools? Surely closing the schools to prevent community transmission would make more sense?
    
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    March 17, 2020 4:45pm
- MCos
  
  If Johnny didn’t pick up the virus from Freddy at school he probably would have picked it up from him somewhere else if the school was closed; or someone else would have.
  If the schools are closed the kids aren’t going to hang around the house for the rest of the year with no contact with other kids unless they’re all tranquilized.
  As has also been pointed out many times if the schools are closed medical personnel with kids will have to either find someone to look after them or do it themselves. Both options defeat the purpose of the school close downs.
  
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  March 17, 2020 1:48pm
  - Two fish and a scoop thanks Cindy
    
    Really Queen?
    have you never heard of Fortnite?
    
    3 0
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    March 17, 2020 2:27pm
Happychappy

How dishonest are Labour and the Coalition they wait until the big release of what sort of package that those affected by the Coronavirus to be announced this Afternoon and then release this on Pike River Mine.
Pike River Mine : entry tunnel recovery cost, blow out to 47 million dollars. The cost of recovering the entry tunnel to Pike River Mine has blown out dramatically and has doubled to 47 million dollars after early estimates in 2017 put the price at 23 million dollars.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/411943/pike-river-mine-entry-tunnel-recovery-cost-blows-out-to-47-million
Andrew Little keeps his failure intact everything he touches turns to crap.
14 1
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March 17, 2020 1:35pm
- Wired-one
  
  Its a disgrace that will get no attention from our 6PM media what so ever. Just like the rest of Arderns failures.
  
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  March 17, 2020 3:51pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  What is the limit to Pike River expenditure? Is a $1 million now small change?
  What benefit from this expenditure?
  Who pays?
  
  9 0
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  March 17, 2020 5:14pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    We, the NZ taxpayer, pay.
    
    7 0
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    March 17, 2020 5:31pm
    - Nickc2
      
      Yes, and they are not going past the ‘drift’ as announced today. What a fraud. Little and his mate Peters must be held to account.
      
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      March 17, 2020 9:02pm
All_on_Red

‘Obama DOJ officials privately told Mueller they were alarmed by FBI treatment of Flynn
A little-noticed letter from special counsel Robert Mueller’s office divulges Obama DOJ concerns about FBI treatment of ex-Trump national security adviser.
Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates and other senior Obama-era Justice Department officials told the Russia special prosecutor in private interviews they had concerns about the FBI’s conduct in investigating former Trump National Security Adviser Mike Flynn, according to memos that paint a dark portrait of the bureau’s behavior.

The documents, which include a letter from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team transmitting exculpatory evidence to Flynn’s defense lawyers in 2018,(which they withheld from Flynn- which is why they now have to appear in Court) offer the most detailed montage to date about why Attorney General Bill Barr recently appointed a special prosecutor to review the government’s actions in the Flynn case.

Among other things, the correspondence shows:

Mueller’s team accepted Flynn’s guilty plea on a charge of lying about his conversations with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak even though agents told DOJ they thought the former general was not lying and simply had a faulty memory.
DOJ officials believed the threat the FBI was using to prosecute Flynn under an obscure law known as the Logan Act was a “stretch.”
Flynn was lured by the FBI into a fateful interview with agents believing he was not in legal jeopardy, which caused him not to seek a lawyer.
Some of the DOJ officials’ assessments to the Mueller team were backed up by former deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe.
The documents add credence to the arguments Flynn’s new lawyer, Sidney Powell, is making that the former national security adviser was coerced into making his 2018 guilty plea and should be allowed to withdraw it.‘
https://justthenews.com/accountability/political-ethics/yates-other-obama-doj-officials-sounded-alarm-about-fbis-treatment
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March 17, 2020 1:39pm
- mikenmildagain
  
  No worries, TЯumpy will pardon the traitorous bastard anyway.
  
  1 9
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  March 17, 2020 2:01pm
  - Batman
    
    Another John Solomon fantasy novella.
    
    2 8
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    March 17, 2020 2:19pm
    - All_on_Red
      
      Hahahahaha
      Got your head right up your a*** eh Batty
      
      6 1
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      March 17, 2020 2:31pm
BeaB

I’d like Jacinda and Winnie to stop boasting that the measures being taken by their government are the most severe of any in the world and the rescue package will be the biggest. What is it about these guys that they have to skite like this when all we need are clear honest messages from experts. We don’t need Jacinda acting like the head nurse and stumbling over material obviously written by officials and beyond her comprehension.
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March 17, 2020 1:53pm
Bobba Fret

I don’t think this is a good use of money in the current climate.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/120338629/government-approves-another-15-million-for-pike-river-recovery
12 1
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March 17, 2020 2:03pm
skyblue

$12.1bln package – middle class idiots like myself get nothing. Just keep paying your taxes dumbo.
14 1
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March 17, 2020 2:06pm
- info@cruzpro.com
  
  You only get extra money if you’re not working. If you’re working you don’t get anything.
  
  Superanuitants also do not get an increase.
  
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  March 17, 2020 2:29pm
  - Happychappy
    
    Read this
    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=1231731
    
    0 0
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    March 17, 2020 2:55pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Link does not work. Horrid must have fucked it up and removed it
      
      0 0
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      March 17, 2020 3:56pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    The winter heating allowance has been increased, but that was going to happen anyway – just bought forward
    
    4 0
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    March 17, 2020 3:55pm
    - Tall Man
      
      Freebies buy votes… Communism 101.
      
      0 0
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      March 17, 2020 9:09pm
Wired-one

Raising benefits and the winter energy payments? Why?
5 3
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March 17, 2020 2:17pm
- mikenmildagain
  
  Injects cash into the economy.
  
  2 15
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  March 17, 2020 2:23pm
  - Libertarians are right
    
    So does giving money to the people who actually work. Also note again that the “cash injection” only really goes to a few places.
    This Government is a disgusting joke.
    
    13 1
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    March 17, 2020 3:17pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Cash that will have to be paid back by the NET Taxpayers. Nothing is free Mike, to be free it has been taken from someone else.
    Nice to use borrowed money to buy votes of those who contribute nothing
    
    10 0
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    March 17, 2020 3:59pm
    - cmm
      
      And most of the net taxpayers are getting no support.
      
      What was PriNZess’ suggestion? Go talk to your bank. I suppose she means re-mortgage.
      
      9 0
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      March 17, 2020 4:54pm
- SB 2
  
  Another one far out in orbit on planet la la land!
  
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  March 17, 2020 2:29pm
SB 2

Trump’s ineptitude in respect of the world’s only super power capacity to effectively respond to a world wide Pandemic.

How? By abolishing Trump administration’s decision in 2018 to abolish National Security Council directorate charged with preparing for ,” ..when, not if, another pandemic would hit the nation”.
A directorate established by G W Bush , retained by Obama ( SARS pandemic)

“It would be nice if the office was still there,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institute of Health, told Congress this week. “I wouldn’t necessarily characterize it as a mistake (to eliminate the unit). I would say we worked very well with that office.”

Trump’s elimination of the office suggested, along with his proposed budget cuts for the CDC, that he did not see the threat of pandemics in the same way that many experts in the field did.

“One year later I was mystified when the White House dissolved the office, leaving the country less prepared for pandemics like COVID-19,” Beth Cameron, the first director of the unit, wrote in an op-ed Friday in The Washington Post…..”

https://apnews.com/ce014d94b64e98b7203b873e56f80e9a
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March 17, 2020 2:27pm
- Fletch
  
  Not true –
  
  No, the White House didn’t ‘dissolve’ its pandemic response office. I was there.
  
  It is true that the Trump administration has seen fit to shrink the NSC staff. But the bloat that occurred under the previous administration clearly needed a correction. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, congressional oversight committees and members of the Obama administration itself all agreed the NSC was too large and too operationally focused (a departure from its traditional role coordinating executive branch activity). As The Post reported in 2015, from the Clinton administration to the Obama administration’s second term, the NSC’s staff “had quadrupled in size, to nearly 400 people.” That is why Trump began streamlining the NSC staff in 2017.
  
  One such move at the NSC was to create the counterproliferation and biodefense directorate, which was the result of consolidating three directorates into one, given the obvious overlap between arms control and nonproliferation, weapons of mass destruction terrorism, and global health and biodefense. It is this reorganization that critics have misconstrued or intentionally misrepresented. If anything, the combined directorate was stronger because related expertise could be commingled.
  
  The reduction of force in the NSC has continued since I departed the White House. But it has left the biodefense staff unaffected — perhaps a recognition of the importance of that mission to the president, who, after all, in 2018 issued a presidential memorandum to finally create real accountability in the federal government’s expansive biodefense system.
  
  https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/16/no-white-house-didnt-dissolve-its-pandemic-response-office/
  
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  March 17, 2020 2:42pm
Aunty

I just checked out flightradar, and I saw a fascinating thing. Apart from a few planes crossing the Tasman (in both directions) and some flights coming in from the island, the planes to and from New Zealand have disappeared. And the flights over Europe – I know its the middle of the night there – are greatley diminished.
5 0
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March 17, 2020 2:47pm
- reubee
  
  Try filtering by airport on Wuhan. Used to see at least the China Post freighter, not any more.
  
  2 0
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  March 17, 2020 4:55pm
rouppe

Well well well. I didn’t think it would happen. But a tourist has been made an example for having no intention to self isolate.

Though I think that just means that the other tourists will lie better.
8 0
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March 17, 2020 3:25pm
Fletch

NZ has three new cases….

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/120336762/live-ministry-of-health-coronavirus-press-conference
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March 17, 2020 3:42pm
Maggy Wassilieff

3 New Corvid cases in NZ
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/120336762/live-ministry-of-health-coronavirus-press-conference
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March 17, 2020 4:25pm
- rightoverlabour
  
  “The Dunedin man began to develop symptoms five days after returning from Germany, Bloomfield said, so there was no risk to others on the plane.
  
  Two of his family members are being tested, and have symptoms. One is a student of Logan Park School in Dunedin.
  
  “Our advice to the school is that, if the test is positive, the school is closed over the next 48 hours as close contacts are traced” he said.
  
  The school would be carefully cleaned before reopening.
  
  How long was he here before he realised he was sick and how many has he infected up until now? But Hipkins reckons there is no need to close the schools, as he has no scientific reason to do so….
  
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  March 17, 2020 4:42pm
  - cmm
    
    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12317404
    
    21 year old corona virus victim, except he also had leukemia, so hard to really pin this on covid 19.
    
    Youngest UK victim, 59, also had underlying health issues.
    
    Most of the deaths in Washington state are oldies residents of LifeCare Centre, an acute care facility (sounds almost like a hospice) where many people typically die each month.
    
    Seems awfully unlikely that you’ll die if you don’t have some preexisting issues.
    
    6 0
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    March 17, 2020 5:13pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    One of the students is positive
    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/411982/covid-19-dunedin-school-confirms-it-will-close-for-two-days-after-student-tests-positive
    
    7 0
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    March 17, 2020 8:07pm
    - rightoverlabour
      
      Yup, my original question stands, how many has he infected, and how many if those have spread it further…. Maybe Hipkins failed Mathematics. He should look up exponential growth…
      
      0 0
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      March 17, 2020 9:02pm
Maggy Wassilieff

40 Thai quarantined in a BOP camp-ground.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/120348789/coronavirus-thai-kiwifruit-sector-workers-in-quarantine-at-bay-of-plenty-holiday-park
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March 17, 2020 5:37pm
- MrTips
  
  That’s just enforcing the new regulations.
  
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  March 17, 2020 6:19pm
Johnboy

Virus type diseases generally kill the highest percentage of the folk who rely on free handouts of drugs paid for by the other folk who have an income and pay taxes. Shit happens. Pay your way or die.
Read the bible concerning the prodigal son.
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March 17, 2020 6:02pm
MrTips

And right on queue comes the CCP shit. If Murica no stoppy say virus is Chinese, we cut off your medicines. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/coronavirus-china-us-drugs-trump-rubio-china-virus-xinhua-hell-epidemic-a9400811.html

Assholes. The USA and all others need to reinvent their supply chains. NOW.
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March 17, 2020 6:21pm
surfing

when did car rental excess get so expensive in NZ?

over 5 grand excess for a vehicle that is probably not even worth much more than that.

Surely the commerce commission should be looking at rental companies that offer pathetic insurance!! Even the USA offers better deals these days.
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March 18, 2020 11:03am
- surfing
  
  Ha, never knew, you can buy domestic travel insurance.
  
  $20 bucks for 3 days, covers 5k excess on car insurance, plus lost luggage , cancelled flights and all the other usual stuff (except medical , cos hey, I’m a kiwi)!
  
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  March 18, 2020 11:20am

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