Batman:

 

so, who here would like the border shut?

 

To returning NZers ???...

Pull up the drawbridge.

I have to say I am extremely bemused by the Warriors and Phoenix's decision to stay in Australia. It was described as 'like a 6 week tour of the UK'...yeah except there's a pandemic going on!

Here's what is going to happen. One of the players will test positive and it will be all over.

They are delaying the inevitable. Idiots. 

cddt:

 

True, but there hasn't been any clear instruction to stay away from public places. More of a suggestion. As soon as they tell people "do not go out", there will be a lot more compliance.

 

I see lots of references to "elderly people" being most at risk from this virus and heard some young ladies saying they didn't need to worry at all. Although the stats certainly show that elderly people are most at risk, younger people shouldn't get too complacent about the situation. There are heaps of people under the age of 70 who have all sorts of medical problems, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma etc etc that can make them more vulnerable than fit people who are over 70. In other words any people whose immune system is suppressed may be at high risk.

As to whether people should keep going out to public places, this is a very hard decision to make. From my observations, there are still a large number of people of all ages not too worried about the situation and still visiting cafes, shops, libraries, and travelling in crowded trains, buses etc. Most people are still going to work and not being told they should work at home. I think this is probably as it should be given the low number of confirmed cases in NZ.

However, I agree that as the number of cases grows, the authorities need to give more guidance as to whether to go out or not, which places are more at risk etc, and not leave it entirely over to people to decide for themselves.

Batman:

 

so, who here would like the border shut?

 

To what extent?

wellygary:

 

Batman:

 

so, who here would like the border shut?

 

 

To returning NZers ???...

 

Obviously not. To everyone else. Like Denmark is doing.

Batman:

 

so, who here would like the border shut?

 

If NZ takes a really aggressive policy we may be able to prevent the worst here.

This could mean that in 6-8 weeks NZ could be open for business for those already here.

Maybe its not too late for Australia too, and if they become "clean" too then we could resume trans tasman travel.

Two new cases in Wellington, one in Dunedin. Total of 11 now.

MikeB4:

 

Batman:

 

so, who here would like the border shut?

 

 

To what extent?

 

Keep it open to returning citizens and legal residents, plus cargo. No tourists. I think it's fair enough.

Europe's outer borders will be shut at Tuesday noon (EU local time).

wellygary:

 

Batman:

 

so, who here would like the border shut?

 

 

To returning NZers ???...

 

How would they get here ?

Airline staff being quarantined for 2 weeks at either end would make it uneconomic for travel.

freitasm:

 

Spark Sport opens its platform up to all New Zealanders at no charge.

Universal to offer $20 iTunes rentals of movies still in theaters starting this week

Universal Studios has announced today that it is planning to release movies that are still in theaters on iTunes and other services starting this week.....

Universal will offer its current slate of movies in theaters as rentals via iTunes, Amazon, and other digital rental platforms. This includes the movies The Invisible Man, The Hunt, and Emma. Additionally, the Trolls World Tour title was set to be released in theaters on April 10, but Universal now says it will be available to rent on that same day as well.

Universal is setting a suggested price for these rentals at $20. This is quite a bit more than the usual $3.99 rentals we see on iTunes, but for most people, it’s likely much cheaper than going to theaters — especially for groups of more than two people.......

I do not know if this will also apply to outside of the USA and at what pricing.

Other studios will presumably follow ??

frednz: However, their decision not to give any refunds for concerts that people have paid in advance for, is perhaps not so good, but they are quite a small company and I guess they need the cash to maintain cash flow and commitments.

 

This raises the point of whether companies which have received money in advance for concerts should be obliged to refund in full monies paid in advance if the concerts are cancelled? It's not quite so good saying that you can transfer your tickets to a future concert if you have no idea whether these concerts will in fact go ahead. So, what do you think of this situation, should Operatunity be legally obliged to make refunds if these are requested? 

I have tickets for the Frank Turner concert in Wellington on 02 April. Due to the border restriction NZ and Aus have in place this tour will not be going ahead now. In their email advising of the cancellation the ticket provider (Under The Radar - a medium sized business) said everyone gets refunds within the next 7 days. No beating about the bush, this is what should be done and is what Operatunity should be doing. Consumers have brought tickets to see a specific event on a specific date. If that date is postponed, their should be an option of 'hold on' or 'full refund', anything else likely falls afoul of NZ law.

mattwnz: WHO have said that ALL countries now need to TEST TEST TEST

 

However NZ seems to have a low number of tests compared to other countries, and apparently we aren't reaching capacity. Is this because they have a maximum number of test they can do in total, and don't want to run out? If not, what would the reason to not test to capacity at this early stage, to minimise the risk of community transmissions occurring. They have already said after closing NZ off from other countries and requiring self isolation for all inbound people, that  it would be unrealistic to expect NZ not to go through this without other cases.  However if noone else is coming into NZ with the illness, (except possibly those that are self isolating) that would mean it would be transmitting locally. We want to stop any risk of local transmission occurring to prevent any community outbreaks, which the only way appears is to test. 8 doesn't sound like a realistic number of cases IMO , and sounds too low. 

We're monitoring the situation in Thailand as we were supposed to going back there for a wedding in August. Today we've decided to pull the pin on that. In terms of testing, they are only testing people who show symptoms, unless you have the equivalent of NZ$250 to fork out for a test. That's a huge amount of money over there.

Handsomedan: Govt Fires its "Fiscal Bazooka" at Coronavirus

 

When I first read the headline, I thought it said "fecal bazooka"...I was mildly horrified. 

Another name for a Death Metal band - you're on a roll!!

2 probable cases in Dunedin with the mans child and another family member showing signs. Results expected today. Dunedin supermarkets got busy after news spread, fresh bread, pasta, flour etc all sold. 

A sign of things to come with panic buying sadly, hopefully they start putting limits on or dedicated early hours for the elderly like AUS.