Amid all the sturm und drang of Covid and the pandemic, New Zealand has carved its own little passage in the south Pacific. We’ve had our ups and downs but there has not been a single case reported in over 170 days, except at the border which is as tight as a whale’s arse.
But it’s not perfect, we always knew that it would get in again and the Government strategy is, and has always been, when it does, we will stamp it out. Last week, after a major epidemiological and social management report, that stance was reinforced with a statement that even one case would result in a response that was rapid and “severe”.
On Sunday, a 58 year old man who had booked for his vaccine but not yet had it, had himself tested and on Monday at 12.30, he was confirmed positive. That was announced at 1pm with a Cabinet meeting at 4.30 and an announcement on the response to come after that at 6pm.
By that time, half the country had finished work early and headed home, fully expecting a lockdown.
That was confirmed at 6pm with the whole nation at level for for at least 3 days while they figure out how far it had gone and Auckland, where it was discovered, for 7 days. Have a look here for what lockdown in my country looks like. That was accompanied not by howls of freedumb and demands for exceptions and civil sabotage, but something like a sigh of relief. Although foreign media seem not to get it.
Naturally, there was a rush to the supermarkets to stock up, even though it is not necessary. The PM even suggested that, while nobody needs to do that, she gets that human nature cannot be overcome by edict. That is important because, while the “don’t go crazy shopping” human nature part is invincible, the pics of the streets this morning show that we have fully grokked and internalised the importance of what we are doing.
And now for the humour. The biggest seller at the supermarkets yesterday was not toilet paper, that came in at 12. Here are the top 5.
- 1. Broccoli
- 2. Bananas
- 3.Value 2L milk
- 4. Avocado
- 5. Pams butter
You will not understand my country until you can grasp that, in the face of locking down hard enough to make your eyes bleed, our main thought is, “shit, better stock up on broccoli”.
Don’t get too carried away though, as well there is a flood of demand at food banks because poor people don’t have stocks even in normal times, still got a lot of work to do there.