msukiwi:

 

tdgeek:You mean the mainland? Its just me and three sheep...

 

Make that at least three plus the three sheep :-)

 

LOL, I also afterwards regretted typing the sheep.

wellygary:

 

tdgeek:

 

Looks good.

 

I wish they had started a register of ALL incoming passengers, from all countries. Nothing flash, where have you been, where are you staying, email address, phone number, where will you be travelling in NZ, when are you leaving. Thats all, easier than an arrival card. If we get infections here, we know where everyone is, including that couple two weeks ago from Iran which was a non issue, now its a BIG issue, as new data updates daily.

 

 

The arrival card already asks for phone/email, how long you are staying, and a broad where have you been...

 

I'm not sure asking people where they are going to be going in NZ would be overly helpful, as it will likely be  fairly broad or very changeable,

 

Yeah I guess. It was more based on lets be active with contact tracing, which we aren't. An article I read said there are three big keys. Self isolationn, protecting healthcare workers and contact tracing.

Take my example. I register as there is a global virus issue, makes sense. I'm off to Wanaka then QTN, then a few days in AKL before flying out. I know to call the 0800 if I have symptoms, I get encouraged to be careful, given advice. I then find Iran is an issue as per the news so I contact the register people or they contacte me. Its not a lot of data, but as these new countries are seen to be infectors, we can get a very easy picture on the many weeks of aircraft that have brought foreigners and Kiwis in from countries that were of no ineterst but now are. Its not rocket scvience and we dont want GPS tracking, but it would be great data for contact tracing. If it included all people on all flights, as with a potential pandemic risk, everyone matters, not just todays hotbed.

tdgeek:

 

Yeah I guess. It was more based on lets be active with contact tracing, which we aren't. An article I read said there are three big keys. Self isolationn, protecting healthcare workers and contact tracing.

 

Take my example. I register as there is a global virus issue, makes sense. I'm off to Wanaka then QTN, then a few days in AKL before flying out. I know to call the 0800 if I have symptoms, I get encouraged to be careful, given advice. I then find Iran is an issue as per the news so I contact the register people or they contacte me. Its not a lot of data, but as these new countries are seen to be infectors, we can get a very easy picture on the many weeks of aircraft that have brought foreigners and Kiwis in from countries that were of no ineterst but now are. Its not rocket scvience and we dont want GPS tracking, but it would be great data for contact tracing. If it included all people on all flights, as with a potential pandemic risk, everyone matters, not just todays hotbed.

 

The problem is numbers, an 0800 number would just melt at the first screaming headline when we get community to community transfer as everyone calls in....

Public health officials can and do contact trace (and have had plenty of experience- think measles last year)... they have access to travel data from the arrivals cars, and can match with passenger flight manifests, but to be honest finding ppl in NZ is not that hard, unless you are trying to hide or are of the grid...

Does shine a light on how manifestly inadequate our sick leave provisions are on the whole, however.

GV27:

 

Does shine a light on how manifestly inadequate our sick leave provisions are on the whole, however.

 

When I was managing staff I did not care about the sick leave a staff member had if they were sick I would pay for them to stay home. It worked out more economical in the long term as I had less time lost over all.

GV27:

 

Does shine a light on how manifestly inadequate our sick leave provisions are on the whole, however.

 

USA is going to be the problem , no sick leave for most people and no health insurance for the people who need it the most , do you think people are going to stay home and not get paid, plus a Government who is not on board that they have a serious problem. It is going to spread like wildfire and good luck trying to shut down travel and trade in the USA.

wellygary:

 

Public health officials ... have access to travel data from the arrivals cards

 

Thank god for that... I always suspected that they were never read by anyone, just stacked away in cardboard boxes in some warehouse somewhere.

vexxxboy:

 

GV27:

 

Does shine a light on how manifestly inadequate our sick leave provisions are on the whole, however.

 

 

USA is going to be the problem , no sick leave for most people and no health insurance for the people who need it the most , do you think people are going to stay home and not get paid, plus a Government who is not on board that they have a serious problem. It is going to spread like wildfire and good luck trying to shut down travel and trade in the USA.

 

What do you mean, the 38% that will never drink Corona Beer again are doing their part to help. 

MikeB4:

 

GV27:

 

Does shine a light on how manifestly inadequate our sick leave provisions are on the whole, however.

 

 

When I was managing staff I did not care about the sick leave a staff member had if they were sick I would pay for them to stay home. It worked out more economical in the long term as I had less time lost over all.

 

Yup, strictly enforced low sick leave allocations tend to lead to presenteeism and the ripple effect of having sick people in an office because they feel they can't afford to stay at home.

Unsure what the answer is here or how you even make it work but surely we must be moving towards an era where payroll providers can load a separate sick leave balance for officially declared pandemics at the bare minimum. 

GV27:

 

 

 

Yup, strictly enforced low sick leave allocations tend to lead to presenteeism and the ripple effect of having sick people in an office because they feel they can't afford to stay at home.

 

Unsure what the answer is here or how you even make it work but surely we must be moving towards an era where payroll providers can load a separate sick leave balance for officially declared pandemics at the bare minimum. 

 

Would that not fall under the umbrella of financial support for businesses that is being considered?

tdgeek:

 

 

 

Would that not fall under the umbrella of financial support for businesses that is being considered?

 

As I said in my post that I would pay for staff to be at home if they were sick. This showed very clearly a reduction of days lost due to illness overall. Given that there should be no need to financially support businesses for sick leave.

MikeB4:

 

tdgeek:

 

 

 

Would that not fall under the umbrella of financial support for businesses that is being considered?

 

 

As I said in my post that I would pay for staff to be at home if they were sick. This showed very clearly a reduction of days lost due to illness overall. Given that there should be no need to financially support businesses for sick leave.

 

I agree with all that but I think you worked at MSD? I feel many small businesses may not cope with extended sick leave. Their bank account would supercede your correct call. Medium and larger businesses would and should manage that as you say.

@tdgeek The government already has a safety net for those who wont be paid. However I am out of the loop as to how Work and Income is going to manage that. I know they will be working through their planning and have contingencies in place to handle pandemics. 

MikeB4:

 

@tdgeek The government already has a safety net for those who wont be paid. However I am out of the loop as to how Work and Income is going to manage that. I know they will be working through their planning and have contingencies in place to handle pandemics. 

 

Nice. Thanks

Further to my post above. The following maybe under consideration, I feel the Government should waive statutory stand down and high income stand downs for the duration of the crisis and waive work testing also for the period. They could consider waiving income test for partnerships especially where outgoings are high. This will need to urgency in the house to pass empowering changes to the Act. There are emergency provisions in section 61G of the Act but from memory these are limited in their scope and application. Please forgive me if that act reference is incorrect as I am purely going from a very much fading memory.