General Debate 23 March 2020

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MT_Tinman

Surely we should be protecting the young, not the old farts.

NB: I’m an old fart!
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March 23, 2020 8:03am
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  under 20 almost zero risk. Adults up to mid 40’s about 0.1% death rate. Young will be fine. 3% ICU requirement for younger adults is the real concern – when hospitals are overwhelmed they will be dead.
  
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  March 23, 2020 9:17am
  - cmm
    
    It isn’t just age, it’s the mileage. If you’re not a smoker, obese, etc and have no preexisting conditions and your risk profile is way lower.
    
    90% of those are things you have control over.
    
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    March 23, 2020 9:36am
- Justitia
  
  “Old farts” pay taxes too and have done all their lives.
  
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  March 23, 2020 9:27am
Mobile Michael

Is there anyone out there? Feeling very lonely in my office this morning, nobody else has turned up.
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March 23, 2020 8:03am
- hullkiwi
  
  We were orded to work/stay at home by our CEO on Saturday, and I work for an Auckland Cojncil CCO!
  
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  March 23, 2020 9:05am
  - Swifty
    
    I was just thinking about this over the weekend hullkiwi – given current events, will we expect ATEED staff to be let go en masse, a la Air NZ etc?
    
    If not, why not?
    
    I certainly don’t see them having much to do in the next year or two.
    
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    March 23, 2020 9:42am
- GazzaW
  
  Our daughter has just contacted me – only four of her class have turned up today. Seems as though parents are making up their own minds whether schools should be open or not.
  
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  March 23, 2020 9:52am
Chuck Bird

The SLG will not front with Hosking.
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March 23, 2020 8:04am
- rightoverlabour
  
  Very silly move. Bye Bye election 2020,,,, Can’t come soon enough
  
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  March 23, 2020 8:06am
- dave_c_
  
  What did we expect – No-one from the COL is in any position to answer the hard questions.
  Pack of F___rs.
  
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  March 23, 2020 8:12am
- Raphael
  
  And Mike Bush is raising the possibility of Marshal Law (which may or may not be warranted)
  https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12318924
  
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  March 23, 2020 8:12am
  - cmm
    
    Martial Law
    
    We might lose everything else, but we still have our standards.
    
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    March 23, 2020 8:16am
    - Raphael
      
      yeah, I wasn’t paying attention to the auto-correct and now it’s outside the edit window.
      
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      March 23, 2020 8:18am
      - kowtow
        
        Couples in lock down are testing the bounds of marital law .
        
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        March 23, 2020 8:26am
      - MT_Tinman
        
        I think I’d prefer Marshal Law, especially if it involves free Seppo money. 😉
        
        NZers MUST resist, however, any attempt by the CoL or their police to remove the rights of citizens.
        
        Have no doubt. This will be the next step.
        
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        March 23, 2020 8:41am
    - oldpark
      
      Maybe “Martial Law” could be given another name in the interim.”Ardern Law” with no beating around the Bush .That would be a hoot, or a bloody disaster. Watch this space.
      
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      March 23, 2020 8:23am
    - David Garrett
      
      cmm: Quite so Sir! And those of us who make the occasional mistake, and do not immediately correct it, need to self flagellate in true pre Vatican II Catholic tradition.
      
      Now, that “pre”…not sure if that’s an error (the spell check functions says it is)…hyphenating it with “Vatican” wouldn’t be right…
      
      Answers on a postcard please.
      
      (No apologies for injecting a bit of levity in these worrying times)
      
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      March 23, 2020 9:33am
    - cmm
      
      And here’s the sort of thing I mean:
      
      https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12319046
      
      drive-thru: That’s the sort of thing that destroys an empire!
      
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      March 23, 2020 1:20pm
  - MCos
    
    Martial law is military government combined with suspension of ordinary law,
    Mike Bush was talking about using the military to basically bolster police numbers.
    
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    March 23, 2020 8:26am
    - Hacked-Off
      
      The Military refer to this type of operation as ‘Aid to the Civil Power’ and may this operate during Martial Law (the suspension of Civil Law) if the Government deems it so. But it also gives aid to the Civil Power outside of any declaration of Martial Law if called upon by the Government of the Day. Aid to the Civil Power can be used for humanitarian operations – think the Engineers helping during rescue operations in Christchurch, security operations – again in Christchurch, or as manpower supplementation to areas deemed critical that must continue to be run – such as when Prison Officers threaten to go on strike or authorities need extra manpower. I suspect that the Military will called upon to provide both medical personal to supplement civilian medical personnel, transportation of personnel and goods to critical areas, and personnel to beef-up the police/quarantine areas as needed. The Military have contingency plans for these activities if called upon.
      
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      March 23, 2020 9:14am
    - igm
      
      MCos: Do not need military, Labour have given us plenty of new cops . . . Nash told us so!
      
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      March 23, 2020 9:52am
  - LTA1955
    
    So COVID will be responsible for the implementation of Marshal Law, right from the get go of the 2017 election we kept getting headwinds from the left ongoing, never ending, relentless. There is an agenda here and it ain’t no big conspiracy. How the country reacts to these offshore events (now onshore) triggers Mike Bush to say this? WTF
    
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    March 23, 2020 8:26am
    - Tony Stuart
      
      I think you mean “martial law”.
      
      I have no problem with using the military to police and enforce any shutdown rules. After all, no one complained when the army manned barricades around the Red Zone after the February 2011 earthquake in Christchurch.
      
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      March 23, 2020 9:23am
      - rangitoto
        
        Maybe he was talking about Wild Bill Hickok.
        
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        March 23, 2020 9:45am
  - Tempist
    
    Lucky we have extra 1,800 police to assist….
    
    And technically isn’t martial law military rule, when it’s the police in charge of enforcing it (even with military assistance) it’s called the law
    
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    March 23, 2020 8:30am
  - Padriv Ustoev
    
    That’s silly. Who is going to enforce it?
    The NZ army? Auckland regiment? Can they even field a full batallion ?
    Laughable.
    
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    March 23, 2020 8:38am
    - oldpark
      
      Would have been NZs Airforce. Except Hulun Clark shut them down . Heard the same Woman ranting on that NZ should help other lest fortunate countries with some help in solving the Chiness Flu epidemic.
      Cant help but think how about NZ . After all dosn’t charity begin at home .Clark still thinks she is still with that epitome of disaster the UN .
      
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      March 23, 2020 10:14am
    - Rachael Membery
      
      SAS?
      
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      March 24, 2020 5:46am
  - peterwn
    
    If NZ moves to Level 4 as is being advocated then imposition of ‘martial law’ would seem inevitable. The difference between ‘martial law’ in this instance would be that unlike the usual imposition of ‘martial law’, democratic processes (Parliament, elections, etc) are not sidelined.
    
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    March 23, 2020 8:45am
    - MT_Tinman
      
      The difference between ‘martial law’ in this instance would be that unlike the usual imposition of ‘martial law’, democratic processes (Parliament, elections, etc) are not sidelined.
      
      Wanna bet?
      
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      March 23, 2020 9:09am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    Under what authority could the Police coral 70+’s?
    My Irish genes are having their anti-authoritarian bits awakened.
    
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    March 23, 2020 9:21am
    - mikenmildagain
      
      Do you mean isolate them on a coral reef, or corral them?
      
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      March 23, 2020 9:53am
      - KevO'Brien
        
        Either will do.
        
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        March 23, 2020 12:25pm
- kevn
  
  @Chuck… Well, he isn’t exactly a JA fan. Shame, I enjoy Hoskings pointed questions and her obtuse, super word soupy reponses.
  
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  March 23, 2020 8:30am
- jv
  
  We are being played with
  
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  March 23, 2020 8:36am
- jacob
  
  And were doing all this with only a few thousand tests. Australia has done over 100,000 this need to be ramped up now, or we should be provided with a straight up answer to why it can’t be
  
  https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus
  
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  March 23, 2020 9:07am
- Tony Stuart
  
  In fairness Chuck, convening a Cabinet meeting where the national alert level is likely to be raised is probably a higher priority for the PM at the moment.
  
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  March 23, 2020 9:20am
  - Brian McDonald
    
    Exactly. Hoskins looks a little like the PM but he is isn’t.
    
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    March 23, 2020 9:29am
    - lifesgood
      
      What’s wrong with you? His name is Hosking. I suppose you called John Key Keys as well.
      
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      March 23, 2020 10:25am
- Piniwi
  
  Understandable CG as she lifts the country to her Level 3 then states: “Ardern warned now is the time to act. In 48 hours, New Zealand will go to alert level 4”. Her daily scripts are as bad as her sad response levels.
  
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  March 23, 2020 2:05pm
Happychappy

Coronavirus: NZ only 8 days behind UK expert warns
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/03/coronavirus-nz-only-eight-days-behind-the-uk-expert.html
It looks like not all the experts believe in Jacinda’s plan.
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March 23, 2020 8:06am
- MCos
  
  Everyone’s an expert
  
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  March 23, 2020 9:24am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Especially in a blog comments thread…
    
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    March 23, 2020 9:54am
- MrTips
  
  None of them do. Jacinda’s problem on this issue has been surrounding herself with know nothing political fan girls like Siouxsie Wiles, Michelle Dickinson and Juliet Gerrard. None of them are clinicians, epidemiologists or protocol useful in this situation.
  
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  March 23, 2020 9:27am
  - SB 2
    
    Mr Tips, simple. Replace then all ( including Prof Baker) with a chronic know it alls like you and others on KB,
    
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    March 23, 2020 10:52am
    - Simon Gotlieb
      
      I get the feeling he’d be happier if some middle-aged or older white men were in charge on this one.
      
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      March 23, 2020 12:54pm
      - toby1845
        
        I’d be happy with any of Helen Clark, John Key or Bill English, and their respective Cabinets. The current PM and her supporting rabble are simply hopeless.
        
        The threat was obvious from about 20 January. Her/their total lack of action since may result in thousands of unnecessary deaths. And she won’t be able to play the ‘nine years of neglect’ thingy to save herself.
        
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        March 23, 2020 2:57pm
      - MrTips
        
        Lol. Nah Simon, just people like Anja, Caroline, David, Stephen and Michael. You know, medically trained folk who know what they’re talking about.
        
        Tosser.
        
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        March 23, 2020 6:27pm
  - John Warren
    
    I’m sick to death of the pink-haired freak giving me her opinion on everything other than microbiology.
    
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    March 23, 2020 1:24pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  If we had 50 experts together we would have sets of 49 disagreeing with each other. As no one knows, it’s all opinion as to the best action.
  
  The real disturbance to most at present is to their social isolation and resultant mental health. They have been bombarded with climate change coming to kill them off–the children are already seriously worried. Even adults are are drinking the climate change Koolade.
  Take it gently.
  
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  March 23, 2020 9:30am
  - Doctor Who
    
    Still denying AGW, a theory based on incontrovertible evidence.
    
    Obviously your brain works very slowly, and needs to be bombarded with the sight of people dying before your eyes.
    
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    March 23, 2020 11:47am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      What sensible person would accept AGW when the temperature lags the CO2?
      
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      March 23, 2020 12:26pm
- projectman
  
  Yes, and true of climate change too.
  
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  March 23, 2020 1:37pm
dave_c_

As we probably had expected – NZ border (especially airport) response deemed as ‘Grossly amateur’.
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March 23, 2020 8:10am
Justitia

So what is the government’s strategy for Wuhan Flu? Are we still try to contain it and “stamp it out”. Or are we only trying to mitigate its spread in a foolhardy attempt to manage the rate of infection? Surely it is time to counter-attack before the enemy gets too great a foothold? The testing regime must be ramped up by orders of magnitude; people must be isolated including by mandatory quarantine; and hot spots, if not the whole country, must be locked down – NOW! Otherwise we are on track for the Italian experience in a matter of weeks. Let’s do this!
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March 23, 2020 8:10am
- James Stephenson
  
  Looks pretty much exactly the same as the UK’s to me but with the added Sesame Street factor of it being brought to you by the numbers 1 to 4.
  
  The give away comment to me was the bit about several smaller peaks rather than one big peak which would overwhelm the health system.
  
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  March 23, 2020 9:11am
- cmm
  
  Could try the Tarrant approach.
  
  Never mention its name!
  
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  March 23, 2020 9:40am
- Twinkletoes
  
  I think we should be told exactly how many testing kits there are in NZ at this point in time – I have a feeling there are not enough to do random tests which is why they are using the excuse that one must have been in contact with people returning from overseas to to justify a test. There could be hundreds of people running around NZ who are positive and not know it.
  
  I have absolutley no faith in this Govt. who are lying through their teeth hoping this will all magically disappear because we have such a caring, empathetic and good looking PM.
  
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  March 23, 2020 1:07pm
  - Mummy
    
    I heard 300k testing kits at the moment.
    
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    March 23, 2020 3:39pm
  - rererangihirihiri
    
    She is not a good looking person.
    
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    March 24, 2020 3:59am
Simon

A reminder: The good ole days.

Ruan told Morning Report: “I can tell you that only two days ago, our foreign ministers talked over the phone about the outbreak… Foreign Minister Winston Peters said that New Zealand will maintain normal exchanges and people’s flow between the two countries. However, just overnight, the New Zealand changed its mind. And I think the trade … should be based on normal exchanges of people. (New Zealand) then cut off the normal flow of people and it will kill the economic cooperation. The Chinese people are now isolating the coronavirus, but New Zealand is … joining efforts to isolate the Chinese economy. That’s why I feel very disappointed.

3 February 2020

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/408720/chinese-consul-general-criticises-decision-to-bar-travellers-from-china-over-coronavirus-concerns

Just overnight changed its mind.

“joining efforts” – Thanks to Trump Admin.

CCP, vile bullies and clown show, indifferent / wanted the Wuhan virus to flood into NZ. The far bigger hit taken by NZ would be ok because its about “economic cooperation” with CCP turds.

Our clown show would have obliged had it not been ultimately for Prez Trump.
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March 23, 2020 8:12am
kowtow

How do you print money in a cashless society ?
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March 23, 2020 8:13am
- KevO'Brien
  
  That’s what the Reserve Bank does. It allows the govt to make a payment to your bank account.
  The money is when you spend it and the seller charges you and your bank has to pay it. All done cash free but not without consequences: prices can be expected to rise and demand is created on our balance of payments so exports are needed to make up that. Our extant taxpayers are ultimately on the hook as security.
  
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  March 23, 2020 9:38am
MT_Tinman

A couple of thoughts from a bored old man:

Now the CoL have destroyed the economy (due to a cold) the number of children in “poverty” must have reduced to zero.

With all these deaths from the new cold the “housing crisis” must have fixed itself ……… oh, hang on. How many?

Do we still need 100,000,000 trees? Is toilet paper in THAT short supply?

What makes the special people worth 56+ mil in cold response more than all other NZers?
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March 23, 2020 8:14am
- Aliog
  
  It’s not a cold. I think I remember that you are or were a taxi driver, so I accept that you know ALMOST everything…but you got this bit wrong.
  
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  March 23, 2020 9:12am
  - Tall Man
    
    So not as bad as a cold?
    
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    March 23, 2020 10:40am
G152

And wont the police just love martial laws being enacted.
And no doubt they will only be to happy when after all the fuss is over to return our rights to us
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March 23, 2020 8:21am
- KevO'Brien
  
  The Police would love another opportunity for battle dress. It it a far day from a friendly PC.
  
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  March 23, 2020 9:40am
  - Lance
    
    Utter bullshit
    
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    March 23, 2020 11:54am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      You should seen then around Christchurch. Law Enforcement Officers can get a bit big for their boots.
      
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      March 23, 2020 3:35pm
- dave_c_
  
  Yer right – They are all (incl. our COL governing cabal) following the script, provided by those wanting to implement a New World Order.
  
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  March 23, 2020 11:03am
Simon

Attention! Now hear this:

Its covid19 alert level mong.

The following are required to be contained at home until further notice Kelvin Davis, Willie Jackson, Phil Twyford.

That is all.
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March 23, 2020 8:23am
- Chuck Bird
  
  Winston should be at 74 and a chain smoker who has had contact with Tracy Martin who is in isolation.
  
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  March 23, 2020 9:04am
- Lance
  
  With no cellphone coverage, no internet or communication ability of any kind.
  
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  March 23, 2020 11:55am
KevO'Brien

Enjoy. The changes in Greenland and the Antarctic ice is too low to measure.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/03/22/graphing-the-icy-reality/
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March 23, 2020 8:25am
- cmm
  
  Bloody disgusting how scientific orgnisations have been in a race to out-alarm each other.
  
  Scientists they certainly are not!
  
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  March 23, 2020 8:41am
  - SB 2
    
    Nor is Anthony Watts who failed to graduate from Uni!
    
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    March 23, 2020 10:53am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      What’s your point?
      
      Anthony Watts runs The world’s most viewed site on global warming and climate change
      
      Our Host David Farrar didn’t graduate from Uni….
      but that doesn’t seem to prevent you from commenting here.
      
      Anyway, the article KevO’Brien references isn’t written by Anthony Watts.
      
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      March 23, 2020 11:41am
      - Doctor Who
        
        Snot bloody science though is it.
        
        How the fuck can you not know what science is?
        
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        March 23, 2020 11:58am
      - KevO'Brien
        
        Willis Eschenbach is no graduate scientist either. He has become through his own efforts one of the most highly regarded astute amateur data crunchers out there. He has proved the self regulation of the world temperature to 0.3 deg C. over a century–not bad for a planet. Willis observes then analyses.
        
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        March 23, 2020 12:33pm
- coge
  
  Greta has been deplatformed.
  
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  March 23, 2020 8:57am
  - Sacha
    
    – because she became irrelevant.
    Coronavirus will be ‘de-platformed’ too, when the next big thing comes along.
    
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    March 23, 2020 11:00am
  - Doctor Who
    
    Witless bullshitting imbecile.
    
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    March 23, 2020 11:58am
- Doctor Who
  
  Total fucking nonsense from a crank site.
  
  https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51846468
  
  Earth’s great ice sheets, Greenland and Antarctica, are now losing mass six times faster than they were in the 1990s thanks to warming conditions.
  
  A comprehensive review of satellite data acquired at both poles is unequivocal in its assessment of accelerating trends, say scientists.
  
  Between them, Greenland and Antarctica lost 6.4 trillion tonnes of ice in the period from 1992 to 2017.
  
  This was sufficient to push up global sea-levels by 17.8mm.
  
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  March 23, 2020 11:54am
- Doctor Who
  
  https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1855-2
  Published: 10 December 2019
  Mass balance of the Greenland Ice Sheet from 1992 to 2018
  
  The Greenland Ice Sheet has been a major contributor to global sea-level rise in recent decades1,2, and it is expected to continue to be so3. Although increases in glacier flow4,5,6 and surface melting7,8,9 have been driven by oceanic10,11,12 and atmospheric13,14 warming, the magnitude and trajectory of the ice sheet’s mass imbalance remain uncertain. Here we compare and combine 26 individual satellite measurements of changes in the ice sheet’s volume, flow and gravitational potential to produce a reconciled estimate of its mass balance. The ice sheet was close to a state of balance in the 1990s, but annual losses have risen since then, peaking at 345 ± 66 billion tonnes per year in 2011. In all, Greenland lost 3,902 ± 342 billion tonnes of ice between 1992 and 2018, causing the mean sea level to rise by 10.8 ± 0.9 millimetres. Using three regional climate models, we show that the reduced surface mass balance has driven 1,964 ± 565 billion tonnes (50.3 per cent) of the ice loss owing to increased meltwater runoff. The remaining 1,938 ± 541 billion tonnes (49.7 per cent) of ice loss was due to increased glacier dynamical imbalance, which rose from 46 ± 37 billion tonnes per year in the 1990s to 87 ± 25 billion tonnes per year since then. The total rate of ice loss slowed to 222 ± 30 billion tonnes per year between 2013 and 2017, on average, as atmospheric circulation favoured cooler conditions15 and ocean temperatures fell at the terminus of Jakobshavn Isbræ16. Cumulative ice losses from Greenland as a whole have been close to the rates predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for their high-end climate warming scenario17, which forecast an additional 70 to 130 millimetres of global sea-level rise by 2100 compared with their central estimate.
  
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  March 23, 2020 11:55am
Andrei

I’m glad to see that everybody is not dead yet and there are still survivors to post on GD
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March 23, 2020 8:27am
- Doctor Who
  
  Just brain dead.
  
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  March 23, 2020 11:59am
Maggie Pie

Sounds like someone might be missing the limelight.
What would the country do without him? LOL!!!

https://twitter.com/NZClarke/status/1241130619423227904
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March 23, 2020 8:27am
- cmm
  
  It seems we’re borrowing Neve’s mum. I suppose in times like this we need the one-and-only superhero.
  
  Rubbish, she put her hand up for the job. She made the nonsense claim she can do everything.
  
  She’s the one choosing to be away from her daughter.
  
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  March 23, 2020 9:03am
- Tall Man
  
  FFS, what a bunch of vomit inducing sycophantic claptrap.
  
  No wonder Covid has shut down the country, it’s full of idiots.
  
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  March 23, 2020 10:37am
RW Capitalist

We live in a free country?
Self isolate ….or we’ll force you to?
Police commissioner on AM Show saying they are reducing focus on drunk driving to focus on Covid 19.
Travel around NZ restricted to important travel.
So couriers are out of the question, mail?
If my out of town customers (businesses) have a critical breakdown, they must close?
Reminder from a very smart man.

“For the want of a nail the shoe was lost,
For the want of a shoe the horse was lost,
For the want of a horse the rider was lost,
For the want of a rider the battle was lost,
For the want of a battle the kingdom was lost,
And all for the want of a horseshoe-nail.”

― Benjamin Franklin
Over reaction is what will do the real damage.
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March 23, 2020 8:28am
- cmm
  
  RW
  
  Both under and over reaction will do immense damage.
  
  What is needed is the wisdom to determine where to react more intensely to reduce covid impact and where to react more loosely to preserve the economy.
  
  It looks like they are a long way from getting that balance right.
  
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  March 23, 2020 9:07am
  - Albert_Ross
    
    I am sure we all agree that the Government hasn’t got the balance right.
    
    However, if we each had to be specific as to whether the Government has over-reacted or under-reacted, we’d find ourselves in rather less agreement.
    
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    March 23, 2020 9:36am
  - RW Capitalist
    
    My main concern is:
    They have taken some of our freedom of:
    expression
    movement
    association
    Q: When and under what circumstances, will they return them?
    This has not even been addressed by the CoL.
    
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    March 23, 2020 9:36am
    - RW Capitalist
      
      BTW, from this bunch of liars, I want it in writing.
      
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      March 23, 2020 9:37am
- KevO'Brien
  
  Do the Police have such powers or just talk?
  
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  March 23, 2020 9:42am
Happychappy

Coronavirus : Teachers call on Government to shutdown Schools immediately.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/03/coronavirus-teachers-call-for-schools-to-be-shut-immediately.html
I wonder whether Jacinda Ardern and Chris Hipkins greater knowledge in I guess their opinion will override those that have trained to look after our School Children.
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March 23, 2020 8:29am
- Andrei
  
  Wow teachers wanting to be paid for not going to work.
  
  Great opportunity to get the bathroom painted while on the taxpayers dime I guess
  
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  March 23, 2020 9:04am
  - James Stephenson
    
    All the teachers I know are planning to continue teaching as much as they can via online methods.
    
    17 2
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    March 23, 2020 9:30am
    - Tall Man
      
      Yep, that’ll work……….
      
      2 3
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      March 23, 2020 10:31am
  - rightoverlabour
    
    Actually I am one of those teachers. I am at home checking e mails and trying to run administration from home. I will be doing house work, after 3:30pm. I started working at about 7:30 and have been working non stop since then. Not all teachers are lazy incompetents.
    
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    March 23, 2020 9:52am
    - Tall Man
      
      But as you well know, plenty are.
      
      How does “admin” help your pupils?
      
      10 2
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      March 23, 2020 10:32am
- DeepBlue
  
  Schools will shut when teachers just don’t turn up as they are all ‘sick’ on mass.. It’s already happening.
  
  We are about to see society get ahead of government. That’s how revolutions start, and a lot of our society, 47%, already doesn’t have faith in government.
  
  Only takes a spark.
  
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  March 23, 2020 9:09am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    That spark could be lit by the Plod forgetting their humanity.
    
    10 2
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    March 23, 2020 9:44am
  - rightoverlabour
    
    Parents are also choosing to keep their kids home. The ministry will eventually be short circuited on this and they will look completely inept. ( which is what they are). No staff and no students equals empty schools.. QED
    
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    March 23, 2020 10:20am
- Paulus
  
  Factory Workers are being stood off totally but Teachers still get paid whatever they do or not do, plus long holidays.
  
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  March 23, 2020 9:43am
Yvette

Northland – Backpackers and tourists are rolling into Pak ’n Save WITHOUT protective face masks and WITHOUT self-isolating for 14 days.

Is there a valid argument against Hone’s proposals when what he is doing is “Going hard and going early” – because Jacinda Ardern didn’t.

Meanwhile others have –
Police and local council are working with a Bay of Plenty iwi to implement a rāhui in its efforts to protect vulnerable community members from Covid-19.
Te Whānau-ā-Apanui iwi leader Rawiri Waititi announced the 24-hour a day manned closure of its borders to all outsiders at the weekend.
No one outside of the about 1000 residents would be allowed to enter the territory from midnight March 25 for two months.
Iwi leader Rikirangi Gage said the move was in line with the tradition of protecting vulnerable community members in dangerous times.
Police and the Ōpōtiki District Council were working with the iwi to ensure essential services would continue in isolated communities while keeping the risk of Covid-19 transmission low.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12318889
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March 23, 2020 8:34am
- Michael NZ
  
  that sounds about right.
  
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  March 23, 2020 9:33am
- KevO'Brien
  
  How many NZ’s do we have? Is there not one law for all?
  
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  March 23, 2020 9:45am
Monique Watson

This is the window of opportunity for Covid-19 as it circulates in the community. The days NZ remains at “Lvl 2” before there is a lockdown and the schools are closed.Is Ardern hoping to show a record of active management of the virus at Lvl2 instead of shutting schools cos Nana? Instead of acting in the interests of health and safety?
Snot nosed Rangi and Chloe could turn out to be super spreaders yet.
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March 23, 2020 8:34am
RW Capitalist

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIvRkjOd1f8
OH, they’ll take your freedom alright, but the real question, in this circumstance is:
When will they give it back?
Under what circumstance will they give it back?
The govt. has not even addressed these questions.
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March 23, 2020 8:35am
- cmm
  
  Passports, as we understand them today, were a temporary security measure introduced during WW1.
  
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  March 23, 2020 9:44am
kowtow

Duncan Garish on TV3 has told us a 39 yr old in NY has karked from the Coro , so its all people in danger , fear fear doom doom.

No context of his medical background , stats around this whole panicdemic etc

Scaremongering to the max from the Media Party and utterly irresponsible.

I see the woman who reads the autocue on that station has just reported about “anxiety” among the elderly . Well darling your industry is doing its very best to worsen the situation.

And the Top Plod has just issued a very chilling threat ” Enjoy your own home rather than a cold cell”.

WTF has this country come to ?
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March 23, 2020 8:36am
- dave_c_
  
  Yer, and he couldn’t even answer simple questions !
  
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  March 23, 2020 9:19am
  - kevn
    
    @dave… He must have had Hosking asking the questions.
    
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    March 23, 2020 11:34am
- KevO'Brien
  
  Stuck at home without library books.
  
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  March 23, 2020 9:47am
cmm

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/120478908/coronavirus-former-pm-helen-clark-says-window-is-closing-for-kiwi-travellers-overseas

The stupid old bat should keep her mouth shut. She is not helping.

If we cared what she said, she’d still be PM now.

And Stuff, naughty you for enabling her!
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March 23, 2020 8:37am
- Prince
  
  It’s reprehensible that some people are using this crisis to spread rumours and play politics.
  She should know better.
  
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  March 23, 2020 8:53am
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  Re Stuff, it’s all about shutting out Bridges and anyone else from National from having an opinion on the biggest crisis facing our country since WW2.
  
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  March 23, 2020 8:59am
  - Padraig Payne
    
    I would be willing to wager that we will be at Level 4 within 7 days. I was reading this morning about Singapore’s response. They actually did “act fast” – like weeks ago, and it is under control. The problem with politicians and people who don’t get maths (Sorry David Garrett) is that they can’t comprehend exponential growth. So by the time we get even a hint that we have a serious problem, the thing explodes. Which is exactly what happened in Italy. Three weeks ago local politicians in Milan were photographed in bars and using the hashtag “Milan never sleeps” or whatever that is in Italian.
    
    I am not suggesting that New Zealand is Italy. But it is patently false for Ms Clark to say that the Government “acted fast”.
    
    https://mathinsight.org/exponentiation_basic_rules
    
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    March 23, 2020 9:12am
- Padraig Payne
  
  Sorry, this bit is simply untrue. The Government did not “act fast” at all.
  
  “Clark praised the Government for its response and said it had done the right thing by acting fast against the coronavirus pandemic.”
  
  This is what “acting fast” looks like:
  
  https://www.cnet.com/news/singapores-coronavirus-playbook-how-one-country-fought-back-against-covid19-epidemic/
  
  Honestly I know that it is tempting to be loose with words, and I am sure she truly believes what she says, but history may not judge that statement kindly.
  
  26 1
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  March 23, 2020 9:00am
  - greybeard
    
    If they repeat that they acted “early and fast” enough times then people will start to believe it.
    
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    March 23, 2020 9:26am
    - Prince
      
      Yep, like ‘Let’s Do This’, ‘Nine years of neglect’, ‘100,000 houses’, ‘Wellbeing Budget’ – the label is the depth of Labour’s thinking now.
      
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      March 23, 2020 9:44am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    Singapore has had a very long authoritarian regime. NZ would not tolerate their harshness.
    
    My opinion: so far NZ has acted reasonably. The infections have been almost all from the overseas contacts. We will probably have the usual spread like we get each autumn. Italy is a statistical outlier so the Diamond Princess is probably a better guide. It was my age group in which the deaths occurred and most of us are not that much out in the community so are fairly easily contained. Apart from the 10-19 year old’s the infection rate was a max 8% for those under 51 increasing progressively to 25% with everyone under 80 recovering–half of all the infected showed no symptoms either.
    
    Not over stressing our medical/caring resources is important as is keeping down the panic. Playing with exponential curves with legends is no help. Don’t let the numbers get you. Peace and aroha to all.
    
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    March 23, 2020 10:10am
  - Brian McDonald
    
    This isn’t new and the MOH referred to researching the steps taken by the countries mentioned in the article. The tracing has been going on from the outset here and for several days we’ve had the risk categories numbered.
    The information is out there. 1 of the school children mentioned as having CV symptoms father happens to work for a large South Auckland company that I deal with. The employee told his employer this morning and was sent home for self-isolation along with 2 other workmates he’d been fishing with yesterday. The manager also told me they were prepared to shut down from late last week as we have been ourselves. He expects level 4 to be reached in a day or so as I do, although, in reality, I hope that it doesn’t come to that except that absolutely minimising potential spread is critical.
    It’s no longer a matter of what ‘we’ should have done and the ‘fault’ of others. It’s what we do now.
    I appreciated the daily updates by the PM and Dr. Bloomfield and note that NZ’s tracking system of probable infection sources has been in place for many weeks.
    
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    March 23, 2020 10:11am
- Kevin Herlihy
  
  The reality here in New Zealand is that we have limited resources to treat any infected new arrivals.
  New Zealanders returning from overseas have been the greatest source of infection, they have brought the virus here and have contributed to it’s spread via community transmission.
  The best advice to offer New Zealanders overseas is to stay where you are, particularly if medical facilities are available to you. To take the recommended precautions to seek medical advice where you are and to self isolate immediately, especially if you feel compelled to return to New Zealand.
  New Zealand’s border will close therefore it will be necessary to be self reliant and to take charge of your own welfare where ever you may be.
  
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  March 23, 2020 9:11am
hullkiwi

As the world is facing the reality of the world – Liebore party luvvies (the Nurses’ organisation) tells doctors not to scaremonger after they called for a national shutdown.

Well for the benefits of the SLG, the Liebore party spinmeisters and their luvvies. What is happening is real.

In the UK, the news overnight is that although the UK is 2 weeks behind Italy, the rate of infection is faster and the rate of related deaths is steeper than Italy.

Organisations and public amenities are already closing, on Saturday the CEO of the organisation I work for ordered people to stay at home.

So, why the reluctance to close NZ schools, when nations abroad are doing exactly that (the reason stated by Jacinda is illogical and doesn’t add up)? Is the truth, the lower rate of internet access and computer availability among the “social-poor”? So, is the SLG putting politics ahead of the health and well being of New Zealanders?
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March 23, 2020 8:45am
Maggie Pie

Video from the epicenter of the Coronavirus battle in Italy where thousands
have already died.
Not an easy watch, but shows why we must act now!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J60fQr0GWo
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March 23, 2020 8:54am
- Padraig Payne
  
  Yes I watched that yesterday Maggie. It sure makes it real.
  
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  March 23, 2020 9:14am
MrTips

FYI, the full list at present of companies in the race to dev a vaccine to SARS-nCOV-2.

Of interest, the Chinese one (CanSino), is supported by the Chinese military and claims to have already done incremental dose testing in 108 Chinese volunteers.
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March 23, 2020 9:00am
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  Chinese can always find volunteers for testing – same way they find nice fresh organs for transplants. Lots of Uighurs and other inconvenient people that they can murder with impunity.
  
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  March 23, 2020 9:26am
James Stephenson

Simple solution: task Twyford with maximising the number of infected people.
13 1
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March 23, 2020 9:12am
SB 2

Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Q, Mr President why did it all turn so pearshaped?

A Why MAGA is thrid behind China and Italy in Chinese virus cases and deaths ? From a few to 20,000?

Q. Yes?

A. Fake News, all Fake news. We are talking about just another variant of the flu I naturally tell myself

A. Ummm….!
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March 23, 2020 9:15am
- Tony Stuart
  
  Don’t give up your day job Stephie. Humour isn’t your thing…
  
  29 3
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  March 23, 2020 9:17am
  - SB 2
    
    Tony Stuart , nor your thingy!
    
    https://www.businessinsider.com.au/trump-coronavirus-contradicting-public-health-officials-2020-3?r=US&IR=T
    
    LOL
    
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    March 23, 2020 10:58am
Maggy Wassilieff

It would pay to listen to RNZ now…
Nine-to-noon

Professor Sir David Skeggs first .. telling us (Min of Health) to listen to Professor Michael Baker…an infectious disease epidemiologist.

Act quickly now.
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March 23, 2020 9:22am
- Tony Stuart
  
  I’d certainly take the opinion of Prof Michael Baker over Dr Souixie Wiles. Call me a superficial old fart, but I find it hard to take someone with pink hair with the requisite amount of gravitas.
  
  Dr Wiles didn’t do herself any favours over the weekend either, with her tweet suggesting that this was the time for the government to implement a Universal Basic Income!
  
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  March 23, 2020 9:29am
  - Prince
    
    Showed her true ‘colours’.
    People who push for a UBI can’t do maths. Any universal benefit would be around 30% of the current pension. Not liveable, so would need extra benefits for some, which means less money for UBI etc etc.
    
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    March 23, 2020 9:52am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    The danger to our freedom, physical and economic could be far greater than any virus.
    
    8 1
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    March 23, 2020 10:13am
- Clyde
  
  Kathryn Ryan consistently does a great job and the interview with Prof Skegg was excellent. If Cabinet are relying on anonymous non-specialists then we are in for a very hard ride.
  
  Personally, these are the measures I’d welcome.
  * Immediate change to Level 4
  * Ramp up testing by relaxation of current stringent rules against testing
  * Cancel this race-based funding
  * Shut down with great force this “shutting of tribal boundaries”
  
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  March 23, 2020 9:34am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Professor Skegg’s interview embedded here:
    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/412381/coronavirus-nz-must-work-very-hard-to-eradicate-this-infection-now-epidemiologist
    
    “I’ve been tired of hearing for weeks now people saying the risk of community transmission is low, this disease is highly infectious and I don’t see why the virus would behave differently in New Zealand than elsewhere.”
    
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    March 23, 2020 11:47am
James Stephenson

Serious question this time – it looks from reading the reports about school closures that the Government are now telling us that people don’t spread the virus when they’re not showing symptoms.

This is completely at odds with what international news has been telling us since the start of this thing – why the change? Who is providing that information to Government and what is the evidence that they’re correct? Or are they just treating us like children again?
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March 23, 2020 9:25am
- hullkiwi
  
  James, Cindy is playing politics rather than truly putting the health & wellbeing of New Zealanders at the forefront of her considerations. Last week she muddled her logic in why they have not moved to close schools.
  
  NZ local authorities are moving to close public amenities and order staff to work from home, but the CoL are reluctant to close schools, why?
  
  There is only one reason, that being, in the 21st Century children can do on line learning. That means all schools need to be set up for it, and all families with school age children need computers and internet access. The problem is not all low decile schools are set up and not all the social poor have computers and internet access.
  
  Consequently, schools stay open (except 7 in the Auckland region as of this morning) children will get sick, families will get ill, all because the SLG and the CoL are prepared to take a gamble with the health of New Zealanders.
  
  So, SLG and her supporters, face up to what is happening and act in the best interests of New Zealanders before it is too late.
  
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  March 23, 2020 10:06am
- Ed Snack
  
  Updated info is the reason. From what I’ve read asymptomatic spread is rare and not well documented though it may occur.
  
  Bit like the reverse reason why we were all told that masks were not useful and not needed. They are useful and do work to reduce spreading, but so few were available they wanted to prevent panic buying of the limited supplies. It is worth getting and wearing face masks if you can source them.
  
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  March 23, 2020 10:23am
  - James Stephenson
    
    Thanks Ed.
    
    Luckily, I always have a stash of N95 masks in my workshop anyway.
    
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    March 23, 2020 11:04am
RW Capitalist

https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2020/03/are_we_at_the_right_alert_level.html
So
From start to finish, this thing has a duration of 4 months.
Response difference, determines death rate.
Answer appears to be, that no matter what you do is spreads the same and ends after 4 months.
BUT
What you do, determines the DEATH rate.
Focus on the death rate and those at risk of dying, not on containment as that has appeared to have failed everywhere else.
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March 23, 2020 9:30am
- Tall Man
  
  As I said before, protect the at risk, let the rest of us catch a sniffle.
  
  Play the odds.
  
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  March 23, 2020 10:08am
RW Capitalist

Encouraging…we have heard nothing of reinfection.
Get it get, over it and move on.
Focus on the people who may not “get over it”.
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March 23, 2020 9:32am
- Ed Snack
  
  Singapore has a resurgence, not yet clear if a reinfection or just someone slipped through testing.
  
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  March 23, 2020 10:24am
  - RW Capitalist
    
    and China have had 2 clear days, no new infections.
    
    6 1
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    March 23, 2020 11:06am
    - kowtow
      
      You believe them!
      
      3 2
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      March 23, 2020 4:40pm
BeaB

Perhaps Jacinda’s greatest achievement is to totally paralyse the nation’s politician cartoonists so that they are unable to find anything in her perfection to lampoon or take a poke at. Instead we get an endless stream of cartoons attacking Simon Bridges who is merely the leader of the opposition and not making any of the decisions that are rapidly closing down normal life and freedoms as we know them.
Come on, guys. We know middle-aged blokes can get besotted but this is ridiculous.
Is Jacinda the first politician whose every word is gospel, whose every action is perfect? Your goddess in human form.
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March 23, 2020 9:39am
Rich Prick

I must admit, I’m really enjoying the break from all the climate change doom. But then, I’ve alway been a glass half full type.
21 2
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March 23, 2020 9:49am
Andrei

The number of deaths due to coronovirus in Colombia has rocketed to 25

2 due to complications from the virus
and 23 in a riot over the virus
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March 23, 2020 9:52am
lastmanstanding

Little Greta and the rest of the Climate Change Hysterics must be wetting themselves.

Depopulation Co2 reducing. WOW!!!!

Beat their hoping it continues.

Morons.
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March 23, 2020 9:54am
- Kabull
  
  The challenge for the climate change fans will be how to deal with a continued rise in global temperature when CO2 levels have fallen!
  
  4 1
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  March 23, 2020 12:05pm
  - Doctor Who
    
    Don’t be absurd. Already explained by one of the most coherent and scrutinised and theories ever: AGW.
    
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    March 23, 2020 6:37pm
MCos

The government can do what it likes.
Shut the schools.
Tell people not to panic buy.
Tell old buggers to hang around the house for the rest of their lives.
Tell back packers to self isolate.
Tell people not to bunch up at cafes.
Whatever
It doesn’t mean bag of beans if people think it won’t happen to them and if it does happen to them there’s only a small chance it’ll be much more than a sore throat and a cough.

Over in China, for all their flaws, and they can’t be ignored, they appear to at least have got on top of the situation because the people took notice of authority.
Here a good percentage of the people spend their time undermining authority. By chance it happens to be a Labour led government. It would be the same if it was National.

I notice over in Oz ScoMo has exactly the same problem. Say what he likes about how serious thinks are and everyone goes to the beach.
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March 23, 2020 9:56am
- Tall Man
  
  It was pretty hot to be fair.
  
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  March 23, 2020 11:22am
Monique Watson

Gluckman, teachers and doctors calling for school closures and lockdown to be implemented.
Looks like the person most surprised by a move to Level 4 is Jacinda Ardern herself.
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March 23, 2020 10:02am
Wayne Mapp

So the Mt Albert parent arrives back from Europe and goes to a Tongan Faifai the next day. So much for self isolation. Same with the aircrew mentioned in today’s Herald (online).

The govt needs to be way tougher for defaulters who are wilfully disobeying the rules.
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March 23, 2020 10:04am
- MCos
  
  Conversely the general public needs to take this situation a whole lot more seriously.
  Some Maori community wants to protect themselves on the East Coast and there’s people who grizzle and grump because they want to block a SH or whatever.
  
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  March 23, 2020 11:47am
Padraig Payne

I was watching the regular daily COVID 19 press briefing by Boris this morning. Imagine the dire straits the UK would be in if Theresa May were still in charge?
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March 23, 2020 10:12am
- rangitoto
  
  One good thing May did is stock up the UK on medical supplies and a lot of other stuff anticipating Brexit chaos. Turns out to have been useful.
  
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  March 23, 2020 11:34am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Whereas Germany ignored warnings that it needed to put money into its Health sector.
    
    https://notrickszone.com/2020/03/22/2012-german-gov-was-warned-of-pandemic-yet-instead-poured-tens-of-billions-into-climate-protection/
    
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    March 23, 2020 3:47pm
    - mikenmildagain
      
      And the US administration disbanded its pandemic response team…
      
      1 7
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      March 23, 2020 3:49pm
    - Doctor Who
      
      Covid-19 might kill a few tens of millions, and dead people make few demands.
      
      Climate change will displace hundreds of millions and make the food supply less secure for perhaps billions. What will we do for these people?
      
      I know what you do. Deny and read the crap crank blogs. Pathetic creature.
      
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      March 23, 2020 6:33pm
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        I know what you do.
        
        You and your fellow trolls seem to know bugger all about me and what I do.
        
        But if you telling all of us here on KB that you are stalking me and checking up on my activities, then I think you have a sad little life.
        
        I’m about to make myself a cup of tea…
        
        Tomorrow is a big day…I’ve got bread to make and a lawn to resow… I s’pose I should do some washing also…and of course, I’ll have to prepare lunch and dinner…and take a walk on Kaiti Hill.
        
        I haven’t decided what I’ll do on Wednesday… but as you know what I do…perhaps you could fill in my diary..
        
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        March 23, 2020 7:40pm
lastmanstanding

Despite the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)claiming Wuhan Flu was a plant by the US it is certain that Wuhan Flu originated in China.

Once the dust settles I suggest every Government calculates the economic cost to their country and demands compensation from the CCP.

This could be in the form of the CCP cancelling loans to countries.

If the CCP doesnt then Governments could un literally cancel the loans.

What are the CCP to do.

Sue. Where.

Declare war on the countries.

Refuse to trade with the countries

China must be made to pay.
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March 23, 2020 10:13am
- MCos
  
  Has the UK compensated us for all those rabbits, deer . . . .?
  Has whoever started the Spanish flu compensated anyone for that yet? Nobody will even admit to it.
  
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  March 23, 2020 10:23am
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    Difference being that this is not the 1900’s and we know the dangers. China covered up and where possible silenced evidence of spread from December onwards (there are leaked documents showing this), then carried on lying about rate of spread and levels of infection (by orders of magnitude) all so that world wouldn’t shut their gates to Chinese travel.
    
    They deceived the world with malice aforethought, not by accident and 10’s of millions will die as a result. World should refuse to deal with China so long as the evil Party remains in power and there should be colossal fines too.
    
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    March 23, 2020 12:49pm
    - Jack5
      
      Has the UK compensated us for all those rabbits, deer . . . .?
      
      It was our grandparents and great-grandparents who brought them in, MCos.
      
      Luckily they also brought horses, sheep, pigs, cows.
      
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      March 23, 2020 9:52pm
- SB 2
  
  “China must be made to pay”
  
  Blah, blah, blah….
  
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  March 23, 2020 11:02am
  - lastmanstanding
    
    So tell me why not. They caused it they pay. Simple.
    
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    March 23, 2020 5:33pm
curry4me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_S9OmBI7gq8
CCP virus is the last straw. Leave the Made in China stuff on the shelf, and change the
Supply chain. Xi lied. People died.
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March 23, 2020 10:17am
- Inandout
  
  curry, we could start at the supermarkets which have house brands made in China. Why oh why do we import packaged food when we have the ingredients here?
  
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  March 23, 2020 11:23am
  - Jack5
    
    The NZ dollar’s fall will make it easier for local manufacturers to compete.
    
    Compulsory labelling of geographic source on food would also help. NZ’s meat exporters, perhaps with some other NZ food-industry support, have blocked that. Country labelling might allow a helpful margin to NZ producers.
    
    Marketing by China isn’t necessarily short-term, market-price based. For some time, and perhaps even now, much of our bread was baked with flour dumped from China’s strategic reserves. China dumped flour even in Canada, one of the world’s great wheat growers.
    
    Is there much consumer-quality wheat still grown in New Zealand (as opposed to stock feed wheat)? I doubt it.
    
    Those who argue NZ wheat isn’t good enough for best bread aren’t totally wrong, but French wheat is similarly low in protein strength, and French bread is fine. Also, there are other food uses for the wheat New Zealand grew well, such as pasta and biscuits.
    
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    March 23, 2020 9:40pm
  - curry4me
    
    Inandout: Indeed, and at the big red building. Tell the manager you’re not buying stuff from China ever again.
    
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    March 23, 2020 11:06pm
Swifty

If you’re stuck at the house with nothing better to do can I recommend ‘Hunting with Stu’.

Stu and his mates hunting pigs, in the outback, on quads and having a great time doing it.

Enjoy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw-J52pY9uo

She’s fair dinkum.
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March 23, 2020 10:17am
curry4me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjy7g8DKas8
One or two minor problems in the Fourth Reich.
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March 23, 2020 10:18am
cmm

NZ is the last place in the world that should have a hand sanitizer shortage.

We make thousands of tonnes of methanol a day from gas (you know that evil stuff PriNZess wants to kill off).

Now, granted methanol is not first prize for hand sanitizer, but it is more than Good Enough.

There is absolutely no reason we don’t have 2 litre bottles of this coming out of a bottling line. Fill up a mist sprayer and you have all the sanitisation you’ll ever need for a household for a month.
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March 23, 2020 10:27am
- Padraig Payne
  
  I’ll say it again. Hardly any New Zealand politicians have any understanding of science. How many of them know that most fertilser requires natural gas as a feedstock? No gas = no fertilser. The greens will love it because organic. Pity about the billions who would die of starvation.
  
  I bet dollars to donuts that if you lined up the entire Cabinet and asked “Where does fertiliser come from?” you would get blank stares from every single one of them. You could also ask them “What is methanol?” and you would get the same effect.
  
  Now of course they have advisors. But the same advisors are totally distracted working on other “stuff”. The stuff that doesn’t work.
  
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  March 23, 2020 10:46am
- rangitoto
  
  We make more than enough ethanol, which is much better than methanol for damaging viral protein. There is no lack of tax free ethanol available at hardware stores in the form of methylated spirits in any case. One part water to four parts methylated spirits is about right.
  
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  March 23, 2020 11:39am
  - Komata
    
    Rangitoto@1139
    
    Thank you for confirming what I had previously hypothesised but couldn’t prove to my own satisfaction . Just to confirm: four parts meths mixed with one part ordinary tap water, when out into a spray bottle will work as well as any ‘supermarket’ hand sanitiser ( the smell notwithstanding).
    
    Thanks.
    
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    March 23, 2020 12:05pm
    - rangitoto
      
      Whatever you do, don’t drink it!
      
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      March 23, 2020 2:24pm
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    Why not just put big open containers of water-alcohol mix everywhere. Dipping your hands in it has to be more assured than dicking around with soap and scrubbing or gel sanitizers and rubbing.
    
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    March 23, 2020 12:42pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  3 parts isopropyl to 1 part aloe vera
  
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  March 23, 2020 12:16pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  Methanol is probably excellent but its bad to ingest. I’ve made some and it smells like what drinking alcohol should be.
  
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  March 23, 2020 12:44pm
Jack5

The ultra-Woke New Zealand Immigration and Protection Tribunal lives up to its reputation.

It has granted refugee status to a Tamil Tiger associate and alleged people smuggler who had fought deportation right up to our High Court. He had been denied refugee status also by Belgium.

Our Government and the police are persecuting law-abiding gun owners. We are imprisoning people for having possession of extremist videos, and yet the New Zealand Establishment seems to tolerate, even allow, presence of members or associates of the Tamil Tigers, who want to split Sri Lanka on ethnic lines. More than 100,000 people have died in the war between the Sri Lanka Government and the Tamil Tigers.

In another instance, New Zealand played host to Kailesh Thanabalasingham, who three years ago died in an unexplained hourse fire in Flat Bush, Auckland, that took four lives. Thanabalasingham was secretary of the New Zealand Refugee Council.

A man of the same name, age, and ethnicity was deported from Canada for his role as leader of a violent Tamil gang in murderous Toronto gang wars.

Membership of the Immigration and Protection Tribunal can be found at:

https://www.justice.govt.nz/tribunals/immigration/immigration-and-protection/

Report on decision:

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12318976
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March 23, 2020 10:52am
- Tall Man
  
  The country has gone mad, I’m going back to bed until September 19.
  
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  March 23, 2020 11:16am
- Inandout
  
  Jack5, he is us now, and do Tamil Tigers deal drugs? Just wondering.
  
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  March 23, 2020 11:17am
- Padraig Payne
  
  Yes and within 5 years this guy will be a citizen and eligible to live in Australia. You can bet that the Australian Government is fully informed of such decisions by the High Commission in Wellington.
  
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  March 23, 2020 11:32am
- mikenmildagain
  
  Well, perhaps if Sri Lanka didn’t torture and murder suspects there would be more chance of NZ being willing to deport people there.
  
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  March 23, 2020 11:50am
  - Jack5
    
    In 2014, Amnesty International, which is unlikely to have been as Woke then as it is now, said 141 countries tortured people.
    
    China tortures Uighurs by the hundreds of thousands, and many other minorities, such as Falung Gong members.
    
    Human Rights Watch says that, in India, security forces continue to commit arbitrary arrests, torture, and extrajudicial killings with impunity.
    
    These two countries in total have 2.7 billion people.
    
    There is now way tiny, remote New Zealand can have an open border to the world’s people who have either been tortured, or allege they will be if they are not allowed into our country.
    
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    March 23, 2020 1:15pm
    - mikenmildagain
      
      It doesn’t seem likely that all the world’s refugees could make it to NZ, even if they all wanted to.
      What we can do, here, is not deport people to countries where there is a credible risk of them being tortured.
      
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      March 23, 2020 3:30pm
      - Jack5
        
        There’s already been one attempt to send a boat load of Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka to crash through New Zealand’s border.
        
        New Zealand could easily be swamped by Asian refugee border-crashers, as Greece has been by Middle Eastern illegal migrants.
        
        New Zealand would not survive as a developed country if it took in a hundredth of the refugees from the host of countries where people are tortured.
        
        Plan to border crash into New Zealand by 100 Tamils thwarted:
        
        https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/81693304/trafficking-attempt-to-send-100-tamil-refugees-to-new-zealand-by-ferry-thwarted
        
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        March 23, 2020 9:23pm
MT_Tinman

I just got back from the local supermarket.

The sight there warmed the cockles of me heart.

The shop was full of old farts – as it often is Monday morning – all with carts containing a normal shop.

No panicking, no hoarding, just people going about their normal lives.

These old farts have seen a thing or two, have learned a thing or two.

What a pity so many fail to consider that experience and follow the old farts’ example.
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March 23, 2020 10:57am
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  “These old farts” are engaging in behavior that is hugely damaging to NZ’s chances of weathering this epidemic. When they catch it they will clog up hospitals at 5-10x rate of younger adults. So for fucks sake use home delivery or carpark pickup for shopping!!!
  
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  March 23, 2020 12:39pm
cmm

Weinstein has covid19…

How? Isn’t he kinda in isolation?

His chance of survival looks pretty slim – crap healthy and all.

Or are the conspiracy theorists right and he will just disappear to a nice tropical island for the rest of his life?
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March 23, 2020 10:59am
- SB 2
  
  cmm, of course Jeffry Epstein was another chalk up Clinton Body Count!
  
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  March 23, 2020 11:04am
- dave_c_
  
  Yer – like that other ‘stein’ guy. Epstein
  
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  March 23, 2020 11:16am
Yvette

Taking drastic action and locking down the country now could keep the Covid-19 coronavirus from spreading, and get New Zealand back to business sooner, epidemiologist Michael Baker says.

PeterGluckman –
The evidence is mounting that the best thing NZ could do is make the hard decision to go to extreme shutdown now. The number of new cases coming from offshore means community transmission will get established without absolute precaution.

Gluckman’s warning follows the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand’s call for the closure of schools as the country’s case toll continues to climb.

“Go hard and go early” – Ardern. Another trite slogan.

“Me Too must become We Too” to the United Nations, but not in Labour sex assault cases.
“They are us” and I wear their head-dress to identify with them.
– University of Waikato, Bachelor of Communication Studies (BCS) in politics and public relations
_______

Testing under very specific conditions must produce specific results.
If one of those conditions is overseas travel – your own or someone else’s – it will obviously not show community infection spread if that is not tested for.
The lack of thorough testing has from the start suggests a lack of test kits.
Media and medical authorities should demand much clearer information on the availability of complete test kits.
Especially as there is strong indications we are not being properly informed.
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March 23, 2020 11:01am
- Wayne Mapp
  
  How many of the 80,000 New Zealanders currently offshore will make it back and how many will have Covid 19? Quite a few it seems.
  We may end up having to say “no” to New Zealanders coming back with countries that are completely overrun with Covid 19. Italy, Iran, Spain and a bunch of others. A large number of them will have the virus and will spread it here. Alternatively they will have to go into quarantine, not just self isolation.
  
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  March 23, 2020 1:02pm
  - rockape
    
    What will we do with the 100,000 tourists in NZ?
    
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    March 23, 2020 10:51pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Some deranged moron spitting on cars in the Glenfield Mall top park this morning. Security has detained him.
What is the matter with people these days? I never did shit like that even when I was young
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March 23, 2020 11:42am
- rightoverlabour
  
  And some moron downticked you??? Hope he gets the virus.
  
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  March 23, 2020 12:00pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    KB trolls, the usual idiots
    
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    March 23, 2020 12:41pm
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  Probably a Labour voter just acting normally.
  
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  March 23, 2020 12:04pm
Happychappy

Coronavirus : Flight Centre cuts 250 jobs, 33 stores closed temporarily.
The Travel Agency says reductions are “necessary and inevitable ” given the impact of the Government’s imposed travel restrictions to slow the spread of the Coronavirus.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12319043
The Jacinda and her bunch of misfits are going it gunna take a long time.
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March 23, 2020 12:08pm
Maggie Pie

I’m freaking out!
The Ministry of Health just called me personally and told me i need to isolate myself immediately. They’ve discovered one of the new symptoms of the virus is being hot, having a bubbly personality, and a nice little ass.
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March 23, 2020 12:39pm
- rightoverlabour
  
  Who measured your ass? And how was it decided that it was nice? I think we need evidence. And don’t come with that “your partner said so..” He values his life, we know how nurses deal with non compliant partners…..
  
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  March 23, 2020 1:30pm
  - Maggie Pie
    
    “….we need evidence.” LOL!!
    
    EXHIBIT ‘A’
    
    https://i.imgflip.com/3tnb4a.jpg
    
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    March 23, 2020 2:32pm
- curry4me
  
  Maggir Pie: Priceless. For everything else, there’s Visa.
  
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  March 23, 2020 11:13pm
Cobolt24

Flight Centre makes 250 jobs redundant
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/120491105/flight-centre-lays-off-staff-as-coronavirus-bites
Air NZ plan to lay off staff this week too.
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March 23, 2020 12:40pm
Ian Boag

Just another cheerful thought. Air NZ’s trans Tasman revenues will get a bit of support from unemployed Kiwis returning from Oz.

You can live there for umpty years, work, buy a house, raise a family, pay tax etc but there is no dole if your job disappears and no replacement is to be found ….

Just saying.
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March 23, 2020 12:44pm
- Cobolt24
  
  I haven’t researched it extensively but that special category visa makes it much easier to move to Australia but there is no pathway from that to becoming a citizen.
  It’s their fault for not choosing the harder (but longer term gain) route to citizenship.
  It does become a problem for those who were raised in Australia for most of their lives and have no connection to NZ, they should have some path.
  
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  March 23, 2020 2:25pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Pollution levels dropping at record rates. Less cars on the roads, less cruise ships on the seas, less planes in the sky.
Same amount of cows
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March 23, 2020 12:51pm
Fletch

So we’re now up to 102 cases… ?
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March 23, 2020 1:01pm
rightoverlabour

Maggy W Suggested under 100 by next week. We have already surpassed this. It is about to blow. The rate is in fact higher than the model suggested. The government needs to act fast. Between 25 and 40% of kids stayed away today. That will increase tomorrow. Parents will force the de facto closing of schools. And we must remind the people of this when we eventually get to vote. Their decision making abilities are actually non existent.
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March 23, 2020 1:04pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Yep,
  It’s community transmission…
  Has been for quite a time
  
  Expect a close-down/lock-up within hours.
  
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  March 23, 2020 1:13pm
  - Pharmachick
    
    The Govt. should listen to Peter Gluckman and Michael Baker. Now.
    
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    March 23, 2020 1:18pm
  - rightoverlabour
    
    Hi Maggy, I think you and I should be running the country! Cheers and stay healthy!
    
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    March 23, 2020 1:24pm
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      I’ve got better things to do…
      off for a wander along Wainui Beach….
      
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      March 23, 2020 1:44pm
      - rightoverlabour
        
        Just been listening to Jacinda. Lock down. You will be able to go for a walk, alone..
        
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        March 23, 2020 1:59pm
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        Hahaha..
        
        I escaped with my 70+ neighbour…
        
        I suspect she’s an anarchist at heart.
        
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        March 23, 2020 3:52pm
  - rangitoto
    
    Absolutely right. If the evidence shows community transmission now then it was actually happening around ten days ago. The horse has well and truly bolted. You are always behind the game if you are only relying on tests as it is already too late. Best to assume the worst.
    
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    March 23, 2020 1:54pm
- Northland Wahine
  
  Credit where credits due. I doubt whether any Government could have done any better. I’m no fan of Adern, but there is a grudging redirect developing over how she is handling this.
  
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  March 23, 2020 2:08pm
  - Tony Stuart
    
    I agree Wahine. The alert level could have gone up earlier, but I believe the PM’s response today is what we need. How it’s going to affect people is anyone’s guess, and it’s pleasing to see Robertson has almost doubled the amount available for wage subsidies; my staff are definitely going to need those, and there’s no guarantee our business will survive. It’s a tough time for all of us.
    
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    March 23, 2020 2:15pm
  - Northland Wahine
    
    Respect not redirect. Bloody auto correct
    
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    March 23, 2020 2:20pm
calendar girl

Our Director General of Health, in another very informative TV appearance, has brought the country up to date on the present state of known and new cases of the coronavirus. A virtual unknown to most of us before this epidemic, he seems to be a very able public servant whom we should feel grateful to have leading the country’s medical response to the virus.

Clearly, from a couple of his comments, the country’s ‘alert level’ is to be raised from its current Level 2. He mentioned twice that the Prime Minister would be broadcasting a message at 1.30pm, so it’s clear that she – not the DG of Health – will announce a move to Level 3 or Level 4 of the coronavirus .

It should be the DG of Health’s job to keep the nation informed of the health aspects and incidence of this disease. But it appears that PM Ardern cannot resist the temptation of another personal TV appearance on this subject. Her public persona means everything to her, especially when she can present a long, sad long face and do a little frowning and hand-wringing.
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March 23, 2020 1:29pm
- lifesgood
  
  She is to blame for this mess in NZ. We had a window of opportunity which was ignored and endless flights and cruise ships were still entering the country. Disgraceful!
  
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  March 23, 2020 2:00pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Yup. Should have been stopped 4 weeks ago
    
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    March 23, 2020 2:24pm
- JerJer
  
  So…….the COL cause this problem by dithering for months and allowing the virus in. Only take action when people that know stuff plead with them to act, and now, when everything falls to peices these same idiots have the answer…..somehow this does not make me confident.
  
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  March 23, 2020 2:04pm
- MCos
  
  It’s the responsibility of the PM or the appropriate minister, whoever it may be, to announce cabinet decisions. Always has been. Not palm it off to some head of department.
  The Director General of Health talks about medical matters, not announce government policy.
  If everything turns to custard the Government has to front up to the voters.
  
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  March 23, 2020 2:46pm
Poppa

Just a random thought

Has anyone died from the virus in NZ yet?

If the overseas experience follows here I would have expected at least 3 based on a case load of 100?
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March 23, 2020 1:42pm
- cmm
  
  3 is not statistically significant.
  
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  March 23, 2020 4:17pm
projectman

Level 3 immediately.
Level 4 in 48 hrs.
Essential services – supermarket, pharmacies, banking to remain.
Bars, cafes, gyms etc to close now.
Takeaways closed in 48 hrs.
No indoor or outdoor events.
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March 23, 2020 1:59pm
- MCos
  
  That level system was a clever bit of PR that someone thought up.
  This is a serious situation NZ is in, but a lot of people have been pretty blasé about the whole thing. Maybe because the numbers were low & nobody has died.
  The PM makes a ‘speech to the nation’ speech outlining the level system on the weekend. We’re at level 2, but everyone now knows this is getting serious and this is what will happen if we go to 3 & 4. Anyone who’s been paying attention to the situation knows it’s not if, but when.
  So now the hammer comes down and we should be physiologically prepared rather than all this coming out of the blue, which is more likely to cause an angry reaction.
  
  Theoretically this should work.
  There’s two problems. People who don’t give a shit and carry on as before and returning New Zealanders who spread the bug around by being to lax or infected tourists who are already here and refused to self isolate.
  
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  March 23, 2020 3:16pm
UrbanNeocolonialist

National holiday wednesday for 4 weeks. About time.
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March 23, 2020 2:02pm
Stu2

Wow – daily case numbers still moving probably but the USA is up from 24,207 yesterday to 33,546 today so far (38.6%)

They have really ramped testing up and it is showing. That growth probably swamps any attempt to trace contacts, it just looks bad
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March 23, 2020 2:10pm
SB 2

[Mod – this is a serious situation SB, and you just want to take political pot shots. Have a break for the same period as New Zealand is locked down]
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March 23, 2020 2:19pm
- Cobolt24
  
  Thank you moderator! ?
  
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  March 23, 2020 3:33pm
- toby1845
  
  Got ’em!!!! Gone!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!
  
  12 1
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  March 23, 2020 3:34pm
- mikenmildagain
  
  I don’t know what that comment was, the there has been no shortage of political pot shots on this blog. In fact, isn’t that just what this blog is for?
  
  [Mod – it was a nasty, cheap shot, of the kind in which SB specialises. Normally, it would have gone through, but made at the time when the PM had just announced a nationwide shutdown, which will cost thousands of jobs and send businesses to the wall, his timing was atrocious. A ban for the duration of the shutdown seemed like poetic justice]
  
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  March 23, 2020 3:40pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  SB2 just got a holiday. Should be permanent imo. Clearly flouting the rules and getting away with it.
  
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  March 23, 2020 4:34pm
- Swifty
  
  Bye bye 🙂
  
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  March 23, 2020 5:02pm
- curry4me
  
  Thanks mod for suspending SB 2. You saved my mouse wheels’ life. -;)
  
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  March 23, 2020 11:18pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

While you are there repeaters.
https://pjmedia.com/trending/the-top-10-lies-about-president-trumps-response-to-the-coronavirus/?fbclid=IwAR31zwLQ4D4DJn0rQfqgB21YI2p15bjOukVUR_YPKv9xmdA6QGNT64AqPDY
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March 23, 2020 4:48pm
Tomtoddy

NZ running a 3rd world level phone system. Cant even get through to my doctor.
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March 23, 2020 5:07pm
kiwiBuzz

A few points:

If New Zealand succeeds in wiping it out we will have to adopt a fortress New Zealand policy to stop us getting ready-infected from the outside until it has died off naturally.

The Pike River recovery should halt immediately. There is no way we should be continuing to squander money on a futile operation that will not recover the bodies.

Supermarket shopping bags should come back immediately. Multiuse shopping bags are a prime carrier of infections.
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March 23, 2020 5:29pm
- mikenmildagain
  
  Pretty simple to clean your reusable bags. The risks of transmitting infections that way is pretty low, however. Make sure items like meat, etc are well wrapped in their plastic bags before carrying in your reusable bags.
  
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  March 23, 2020 6:19pm
  - kowtow
    
    Is that satire ? Meat wrapped in plastic bag , put in a non plastic “reusable” bag .
    
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    March 23, 2020 7:33pm
sooty

Her indoors just got pissed off with the talking heads blowing smoke up our arse!
Die bloody MSM die! [ Mod: You seem to be a slow learner. This is the kind of comment that brought on your recent holiday …. ]
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March 23, 2020 6:22pm