2019 Novel Coronavirus Covid-19 Discussion

Forums › Health and fitness › 2019 Novel Coronavirus Covid-19 Discussion

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#2941400 13-Jul-2022 10:11

wellygary:

alasta:

It's interesting hearing all these anecdotes of low rates of mask use. On buses in Wellington, and at the supermarket, I occasionally see a few yobbos without masks but generally compliance is still very high.

Wellington is an uber-liberal COVID rule abiding bubble, there are still plenty of people masking up even to walk down Lambton quay...

But once you leave the bubble to go to places like the malls in lower Hutt or Porirua, its like a different country, it seems to get more relaxed the further you get from the Beehive :)

you give me a group of 50 people and i can easily point out the people who wont wear a mask anywhere .

Common sense is not as common as you think.

invisibleman18

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#2941408 13-Jul-2022 10:37

wellygary:

Wellington is an uber-liberal COVID rule abiding bubble, there are still plenty of people masking up even to walk down Lambton quay...

But once you leave the bubble to go to places like the malls in lower Hutt or Porirua, its like a different country, it seems to get more relaxed the further you get from the Beehive :)

I live in Lower Hutt and generally see pretty much everyone in Queensgate and the supermarkets wearing masks apart from the occasional person who wears an exemption badge loud and proud. Admittedly haven't been to Queensgate for a few weeks though due to being away then having covid myself so maybe it's got more relaxed.

Oblivian

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#2941624 13-Jul-2022 20:34

Wow. The comments on the FB herald post re tomorrows announcement

No words.

And given that the majority of those words are 1 sided and their tone. This won't make an ounce of difference

No changes to the current mask rules and isolation periods for the orange setting are expected when Covid-19 Response Minister Ayesha Verrall sets out further steps in the Covid response tomorrow.

But free masks and rapid antigen tests are expected to be much easier to get amid concerns people are simply not testing and so are spreading the virus.

We're back to the old, if I don't go positive I can ignore it and not be home for 7 days the same as early PCR stages.

In other news. Loss leader test kits at supermarket on the cards.

tdgeek

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#2941691 14-Jul-2022 06:39

The outburst comes after Nurses for Freedom New Zealand - a group of healthcare workers who at some point have said no to the jab - said they have hundreds of nurses willing to return to work if the Government drops its vaccine mandate.

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2022/07/mark-richardson-furious-at-unvaccinated-nurses-who-want-to-return-to-work-amid-health-care-crisis.html

freitasm

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#2941733 14-Jul-2022 09:38

About the noise on non-vaccinated nurses "wanting to come back to work"

We've been through the 648 members of Nurses for Freedom and can't find a single registered nurse. @nzstuff and @TheProject_NZ need to do a bit of diligence before giving platforms to these people. The health system needs migrant nurses, not imaginary nurses.

Followed by

Since we posted this, NFF has had new members join, and existing members have exposed their real names. There now appears to be less than ten registered nurses in the group. Not quite the hundreds they've been claiming.

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#2941781 14-Jul-2022 11:39

freitasm:

"We've been through the 648 members of Nurses for Freedom and can't find a single registered nurse. @nzstuff and @TheProject_NZ need to do a bit of diligence before giving platforms to these people. The health system needs migrant nurses, not imaginary nurses."

All New Zealand mainstream media need to practice due diligence. So-called news reporting in this country seems to have become mainly a cut and paste job. Other than RNZ, which has its own problems, and The Spinoff, very little actual research seems to be carried out any longer.

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#2941782 14-Jul-2022 11:40

Sucked me in good

wellygary

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#2941801 14-Jul-2022 12:24

Oblivian:

In other news. Loss leader test kits at supermarket on the cards.

I was always amazed they actually continued to sell them...

If you have a sniffle you can get a 5 pack for each h/Hold member by just using the app..

free cheap N95s might be useful, but changes to RAT availability are simply because they are banking up the government's warehouses

"By the numbers (as of June 15)

Money spent on RATs: $1.1 billion
RATs imported: 135 million
RATs on order: 47.9 million
Total RATs: 182.9 million
RATs held by the Ministry of Health: About 50 million (stocktake ongoing)
RATs distributed: 79.7 million"

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/129063829/the-warehouses-across-new-zealand-full-of-millions-of-rats

mkissin

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#2941802 14-Jul-2022 12:27

There's so much bollocks surrounding COVID in the media here (which is unusual for New Zealand, and shows the encroachment of USA-style misinformation) that my default position is to assume bad faith until proved otherwise.

freitasm

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#2941819 14-Jul-2022 13:31

Press release:

- Expanded eligibility for antivirals
- Making COVID-19 medicines available in pharmacies to help ease pressure on GPs
- Significantly expanding access to free RATs and masks
- Schools provided with mask supplies and more support for ventilation and winter heating costs
- Second COVID-19 booster available to those over 50
- Extra measures for a short time to get through the winter months.

The Government is rolling out additional measures to help tackle the second Omicron wave and record levels of flu to ease pressure on the health system and health workers.

“There’s no question the combination of a spike in COVID-19 cases and hospitalisations, the worst flu season in recent memory and corresponding staff absences are putting health workers and the whole health system under extreme pressure,” Minister for COVID-19 Response Dr Ayesha Verrall said.

“Our modelling suggests we’re at the beginning of a second Omicron wave that could be bigger than the first, with the more transmissible BA.5 variant becoming the dominant strain in the community.

“There has been a significant increase in cases over the past two weeks, and worryingly the biggest jump is in cases amongst New Zealanders aged 65 and over. That in turn has led to an increase in hospital occupancy.

“We are continuing to ask New Zealanders to do three things - get vaccinated, wear a mask in many or most indoor settings and isolate when sick to suppress the spread of the virus over the remaining winter months. If we all play our part we can take some pressure off the health system.

“To support this we are implementing a range of measures to help Kiwis stay well. These extra measures will help get us and the health system through the winter months. Please do your bit.

Medicines

“We are increasing access to antiviral medication to those most likely to end up in hospital, making free masks and RATs more widely available and doing another push to lift uptake of flu and COVID-19 vaccines including the second booster.

"Antiviral medications can reduce the seriousness of COVID-19 meaning fewer people need to be hospitalised, so we are making these more widely available as pharmacy-only medications.

“Pharmac are also broadening the eligibility criteria to enable more people from higher risk groups to access antiviral medications. Pharmac will be making further announcements about this today.

“These eligible groups will be able to access antivirals without the need for a doctor’s prescription. This means access will expand from 2 per cent to 10 per cent of cases.

“From Monday 18 July anyone over 75 years of age who has tested positive for COVID-19 or anyone who has been admitted previously to an Intensive Care Unit directly as a result of COVID-19, will be eligible to access antivirals through their GP.

“This will help alleviate pressure on primary care by removing the need for GPs to review every COVID-19 patient that may be eligible for antivirals.

“To speed up access to antivirals, GPs can now provide back pocket prescriptions which means at-risk patients for acute respiratory illnesses can be preapproved and have their prescription ready should they become unwell and need the medicine immediately.

RATs and masks

“To increase uptake in use in RATs and masks packs of medical will be provided free along with free RAT kits for individuals and households from testing centres and in more locations by the end of the week. You do not need to have COVID-19 symptoms. And P2/N95 masks will be available for clinically vulnerable and high risk individuals.

“Free RATs will be available from all current community providers, including marae, testing stations and local pharmacies.

“We are encouraging everyone who needs extra RATs or masks to head to a testing site or other location and collect a free pack for you and your whānau. There is no criteria, you don’t need to be unwell or have symptoms.

“Wearing masks can reduce new cases of the virus by as much as 53 per cent. We are asking New Zealanders to keep up good mask wearing, especially over the remaining winter months where the virus is more likely to pass in indoor settings.

“The tried and tested measures: wearing a high quality mask, strong vaccine and booster uptake, antivirals and testing are highly effective and will put us in the best position to get through what is one of the toughest winters we’ve faced.

“We are also providing 10 million child-size masks available for year 4-7 students in New Zealand and up to 30,000 masks a week for all other students and school staff, alongside extra funding to support better ventilation over winter.

“These are the most effective measures we have. They are simple but if we all do them we can lessen illness and the burden on our health system and dedicated health workers, and get through this darkest part of winter,” Dr Verrall said.

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mattwnz

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#2941863 14-Jul-2022 15:07

I wonder how much mask supply they will have. IMO it would be better it it was a booking system kike they currently have with RATs, to prevent abuse.

As mask usage is falling, disappointing that they are not doing more to make sure people wear them in supermarkets. Even TV ads showing people masked and asking people to mask would be a good idea.

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geekIT

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#2941879 14-Jul-2022 15:17

I haven't followed this thread for a while, so please excuse me if I'm covering old ground.

In the last few weeks there seems to have been a very large number of new COVID cases; would 150,000 be an exaggeration?

I don't understand the circumstances of these unfortunate people. Are they predominantly old? Maori and Pasifika? Unvaccinated? Vaccinated but unboosted? Anti-maskers? Or perhaps folk who've done all the right things but have still succumbed to the virus? If large numbers fall into the latter category, we should all be worried, IMHO.

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tdgeek

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#2941887 14-Jul-2022 15:25

geekIT:

I haven't followed this thread for a while, so please excuse me if I'm covering old ground.

In the last few weeks there seems to have been a very large number of new COVID cases; would 150,000 be an exaggeration?

I don't understand the circumstances of these unfortunate people. Are they predominantly old? Maori and Pasifika? Unvaccinated? Vaccinated but unboosted? Anti-maskers? Or perhaps folk who've done all the right things but have still succumbed to the virus? If large numbers fall into the latter category, we should all be worried, IMHO.

Its rampant out there. They say 1.3M have already had it, they suspect its twice that. We are in living with it scenario, so we are living with it, and the spread is expected. Its now about it spreading at a rate that doesn't overwhelm the health system

tdgeek

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#2941889 14-Jul-2022 15:30

mattwnz:

I wonder how much mask supply they will have. IMO it would be better it it was a booking system kike they currently have with RATs, to prevent abuse.

As mask usage is falling, disappointing that they are not doing more to make sure people wear them in supermarkets. Even TV ads showing people masked and asking people to mask would be a good idea.

No booking systems as while you and I doing that is somewhat annoying, you will exclude a lot of people. Some idiots may grab a bunch of masks and RATs, thats what some people do. If they are free and you dont want to wear a mask or take a test I doubt many of those will bother abusing free items

Agree re wearing them as if certain locations have to be masked, it needs to be manadatory. My local BP has a sign that no mask, no entry, thats what needs to happen. Talk here of buses etc, make that manadatory, and enforce it at the door

wellygary

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#2941891 14-Jul-2022 15:38

mattwnz:

I wonder how much mask supply they will have. IMO it would be better it it was a booking system kike they currently have with RATs, to prevent abuse.

TBH, I still think the take up is gonna be pretty rubbish,

You have been able to pickup RATs for nix for months just by going through the "requestrats" site... you simply had to state you had a runny nose. -

If people didn't to test then, I don't really think they will under the new rules.... also blue surgical masks are pretty consumable, If you want them they are not expensive...

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