Wellington... superprehendere

I was shocked to find out there was an update. I assumed, reasonably so I think, there would be no more. But I was wrong. So I missed the live start. I was also less concentrated for good reason.

There wasn't anything particularly important, such as an alert level move or a notable increase in positive cases in MIQ or an announcement on the travel bubble.

I may be falling more and more in love with Director-General Dr Ashley Bloomfield though. If I am not already. He might be the reason I actually get the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The one and only reason. I know I have stated my reasons in 'To be injected or not injected: the covid-19 vaccine part I', https://holandt.blogspot.com/2021/04/to-be-injected-or-not-injected-covid-19.html and 'To be injected or not injected: the covid-19 vaccine part II', https://holandt.blogspot.com/2021/05/to-be-injected-or-not-injected-covid-19.html, but until now, my knowledge has come from the written word. 

Dr Ashley Bloomfield is not just a voice, but he is physically present, he moves and has body language. As I read in an article, sorry for not putting the link here, he is "consistent". He exudes trust and knowledge, he gets straight to the point, knows the details or as the article stated in similar words, "recalls facts quickly", and for the most part answers the question asked (Minister Chris Hipkins is a politician).

Do enjoy Chris Hipkins at 28m50 during the update and 32m25 about his experience,

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/445835/covid-19-one-case-in-managed-isolation-investigated-a-million-doses-of-vaccine-to-be-delivered-in-july

Alan Wendt is back, but sadly I didn't spend much time watching him. Maybe because I've warmed to and/or am falling in love with Chris Hipkins and Ashley Bloomfield.

- A.M.

Wellington... normalis. So to speak.

"Two people at the Novotel Auckland Airport MIQ facility have tested positive for Covid-19."

"The decision to extend the MIQ stay follows two positive Covid-19 cases found on day 12."

The above was in RNZ's live update for the 29th, before the 1 pm update with COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins and Director-General Ashley Bloomfield. Not good. Over 100 people have to have their quarantine period extended now.

As for the update, this is the first time I disagree with the New Zealand Government's decisions about the level alert and the Trans-Tasman travel bubble. I'm shocked and surprised, the level alert should stay at 2 for longer, I thought it would stay until a decision was made on Sunday 4th July whether to change it back to 1 at 11.59 pm that day. The travel bubble shouldn't be re-started at all on Sunday 4th July in principle.

I don't want to see New Zealand go 'backwards' like Taiwan and Viet Nam have, among others: their response was great and then they had large spikes this year to fight against. New Zealand can't handle covid-19 without a substantial negative impact. Anyway, I suppose I should stop 'complaining', because it's been decided and I have no power on governmental decisions.

Chris Hipkins is going to lose his voice if he keeps talking. The problem is, if he does, then he won't be able to do the updates if there's more on a regular basis (I'm not even including he has to use his voice in his other daily responsibilities) or will have to battle through such as not talk much at home and/or use Strepsils etc.

As usual, Chris Hipkins was humorous, whether intentionally or not, but it seems to be his personality: "victory laps" and stating the Director General of Health wanted one point to be reviewed/assessed and then said words along the lines of "well actually we could ask him now" and turned to Ashley Bloomfield.

I might be falling in love with Jason Walls too, note 14m - 17m05 at https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/445751/wellington-drops-to-alert-level-1-at-midnight-tasman-travel-pause-extended

I for one do not want to feel those emotions if within two weeks there is a covid-19 case because of the Australian traveller or the mine in Australia. It will be worse for the Government and harder for them to recover and gain back everything they had with the general population.

- A.M.

Wellington... in extendere

stuff.co.nz informed me, not rnz.co.nz (my usual source), the expected 1 pm update was written and there would be a 4 pm visual update. The minute I read the Prime Minister would be there and not Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield, I thought, big news was coming. Spoiler alert, there was no extension of the level alert, no up or down of it, no extension or re-start of the travel bubble.

The below didn't do me any good.

Well, Jacinda Ardern was very dynamic, and did a lot of the talking - it seemed like she had come in wearing invisible armour to respond to the reporters. However, she did smile a lot and so did Chris Hipkins. Not only that, she was bombarded with questions of all topics unrelated to covid-19: hate speech, sexual violence, spies in New Zealand. Maybe it wasn't a coincidence Chris Hipkins was there, as he is the Minister of Education. Big Potato and Chris Hipkins can handle a lot of the covid questions and he is the Minister for Education.

It did irritate me, if that's the right word, that Jacinda didn't always let people finish and would jump in. One time in particular, she said Chris Hipkins could respond and she basically did instead.

It was the first time Jacinda had participated at this round of updates, as in for this latest covid national impact, and so the first time I've seen her live. As I said, she was dynamic. She also seemed keen to talk. It could have been the lighting/camera angle etc., but she also looked worn down and tired. Yes, I know that's to be expected not just in politics but during covid, but still. I reckon she must have aged too - if she looks at photos from two-three years ago, hell, even a year ago, she must have changed. 

Not that I've watched a lot of politicians on TV or inside the Houses of Parliament anywhere, but Jacinda was also sympathetic, which was nice, as politicians' main job description is to run the place they work for and emotion, especially personal emotion, isn't always good in decision-making for leading a population you're responsible for.

One note I have about people who had/have return flights and are now stuck in Australia. To everyone: reporters, the people it has happened to, their loved ones in Australia and New Zealand etc. Maybe not the under-18s who are not legally responsible for themselves. You chose to travel. Regardless of what the Kiwi government told you or not, and the reason you travelled (even if it's for serious health issues or a death), now is not a good time to travel with no expectation or even consideration you may get stuck somewhere you don't want to. I have said this in another post, which I will not put a link of in this post, otherwise it will distract more than me 'saying' it now. You are the one most impacted. You have to suck up the consequences. The people with power will not budge. If you can't suck up the cost, which is most likely financial, then don't fucking travel.

I have said this before too, previously: vaccines won't help us travel. Worst-case scenario: you have had two doses and are medically fully vaccinated. You travel somewhere and find yourself stuck because borders shut down. Do you really think you being vaccinated will open up the borders? Fuck no. To expand, if every single person on planet Earth is vaccinated, will we live like it was pre-covid-19? Will we travel like we did pre-covid? No. Not everyone will be vaccinated at the same time, not everyone will be vaccinated, you can be re-infected, the possibility of you being stuck will still exist, even if it's small. But you could be the person it happens to.

To end, I think all the below are enjoyable (I don't think I missed all the ones I found funny), https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/445682/government-to-consider-mandatory-masks-qr-code-scanning-pm-jacinda-ardern:

5m33 - I feel you Chris; I almost thought your voice was going to 'break' quite soon after

9m

28m25

30m25

34m50 - "once more with enthusiasm" is what Jacinda says.

- A.M.

Wellington incoming... trilogy

Now I have to find another title if I do another post on Wellington's covid-19 situation.

I knew level 2 was going to be extended before COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said so. I thought it would be another week though, not two days. But I have no particular problem with this.

He talked a lot more this time than Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield which I see as good, he has a good understanding of covid-19 to answer questions and not be overly reliant on Ashley Bloomfield. Not that he can't stand his ground and the relationship between them both is great.

Aside from his approachable goofiness which I enjoy, it seems the NZ government are making sensible decisions: Hipkins not only explained the government are trying to have the least disruption on everyday life, but also realize the economic cost. Good on you in that respect New Zealand. Good on you.

Although I am new to the updates, when watching this one I do feel like I need to fight /defend Chris Hipkins to some extent. I totally agree with mandatory masking in as many places as possible, regardless if you can social distance. I understand mandatory scanning. However, it can be hard to enforce both: it depends on the people, even if the government states you will be fined for not wearing one - if you have enough money, you can keep paying fines. Mandatory scanning I am completely in agreement with Chris Hipkins about it being hard to enforce: here we have temperature checks that depending on where you are you check yourself, someone makes sure you do or they hold one to the middle of your forehead. We can scan with our mobile as well so contact tracing can be done if needed. 

However, if the temperature machine is a self-check one, you can walk right past it as they are not always manned. I was at a restaurant and the man put the device to check temperature to two of the people I was going with's foreheads and made a noise with his mouth, but did not actually check their temperatures - this was in April or May or June 2020. As for scanning QR codes, again, you can walk right past them. You can choose the QR code or writing down the essential information here, but again, if it relies on you and is not manned, you can just not do it. If it is manned, then they get you to scan or write.

For more context, I am in one of the safest places in the World for covid-19; we have one of the lowest infected cases and death tolls in a place that has or has had imported and community cases. We have never been in lockdown. I worked from home for a month and this happened once. We wear masks and hand sanitizer is everywhere. I personally have wet wipes.

I am not sure about the logistics of enforcing mandatory mask wearing and an extra person for the QR codes in New Zealand. Here, there are police checking we are wearing masks and there are a lot of places where a person or two makes sure you scan the QR code and/or writes your details down. Maybe we have the resources and/or man power and/or perspective it is necessary.

As covid-19 has demonstrated, you cannot adopt what seems or is working in one place to another place.

What is for sure, any government needs to act efficiently with all its contributing factors to contain covid, regardless of the variant. On an international scale, Australia right now is struggling it seems. India has had problems. So have Italy, the UK, Brazil, Argentina, the US.

On an international scale, Taiwan didn't initially, like Viet Nam. Singapore too. Japan was doing ok.

On an international scale, South Korea (I think), Hong Kong have always done good.

- A.M.

Wellington incoming... again...

Un: I think today was the first time I actually watched a whole update, https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/445439/covid-19-no-cases-in-the-community-after-nearly-7000-tests-chris-hipkins .

Deux: Response Minister Chris Hipkins is quite funny, in his demeanour and at times, his words, such as "Look, communication's always a big challenge when you're moving at speed", 24.22.

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield seems tired and strained. This is not a criticism, and I know when the covid-19 situation was intense and there were regular if not daily updates in which he took part, after a time, he took a break. My point being, he looks like he already needs another one.

Not that this is bad, but he is also extremely serious and even in photos, his seriousness comes across. He only cracked a smile when he was asked if he would be advising (Prime Minister) Jacinda Ardern on her trip to Australia. Correction: I am playing the update again as I'm typing and he cracks a smile twice, including the one I already mentioned.

Which is good that Chris Hipkins is a bit goofy.

I also have to talk about sign language interpreter Alan Wendt. He is awesome and I might be falling in love with him. When he first switched places with the lady sign language interpreter, I was like "No, where are you going?!" His demeanour, his physical size, but most of all his visual expressions make it all worth it. Unintentionally, the update becomes much more enjoyable to watch just him and listen to Chris Hipkins and Ashley Bloomfield.

You are fantastic Alan Wendt.

Following on from "Look, communication's always a big challenge when you're moving at speed", the issue of reliable information was again highlighted when Chris Hipkins responded to the availability of information to the general public at 14.22 and around 24.40; as well as Ashley Bloomfield from around 39.52. Social media is for the most part, extremely bad in reliable information and yes, you choose to trust it or not and/or fact-check it or not. There are probably millions of people who use social media as their 'news', which is a contradiction because news by definition is reliable. Covid-19 has more than ever shown what stupid and illogical 'information' people will believe and trust and not fact-check. An unhealthy chunk of people likely get their so-called 'news' from social media. I, for one, covid or not, am really hot on reliable sources.

- A.M.

Source:

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-coronavirus-new-zealands-new-hero-and-its-not-ashley-bloomfield/ZSATQN57K6LWSK27JUZSKXAWHQ/

Wellington incoming...

This is the first post I'm typing and publishing 'as it happens'. So it may be quite 'raw'.

As a consequence of covid-19, Wellington will be at level 2 from 18h on Wednesday 23 June until 23h59 on Sunday 27 June.

One personal observation: even before the media conference at 13h today and still now, it has not been announced what covid-19 (variant) the traveller from Sydney has.

This is also another reason you do not have lax border and travel restrictions, as I have said before, for example, in 'Happy Valentine's Day New Zealand', https://holandt.blogspot.com/2021/02/happy-valentines-day-new-zealand-3.html. No, New Zealand's border and travel restrictions are not the strictest in the World. Yes, it has done well in keeping covid-19 out of the country and general population but it is not as stellar as media have reported in my opinion. Culture and psyche play a contributing factor and the majority of Kiwis don't have one to react to covid. Not only is it not in Kiwi culture to wear a mask, they were one of the countries who made it mandatory to wear masks the latest, in August 2020, depending on the alert level and circumstances.

I am not slamming NZ and only NZ. Taiwan has had a spike in cases and their response to covid-19 has been praised. But it has handled covid better than NZ. Remember lockdown in Auckland in February? Slip ups. That should never have happened. Viet Nam also had a good, possibly great, response, and it had a large spike too, this year.

There's a possibility covid-19 has travelled outside Wellington too, Tauranga has not had results back, negative or positive. If the Sydney traveller has a more infectious variant, then hold on to your emotions and, practically and concretely, your hats.

It is also Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. Covid anywhere is not good, or even in a city, but the capital? Not a good image. In New Zealand, they do seem to by and large, social distance. One does not have to, I can tell you that, but it is preferable. However, it will quickly become unenjoyable to stand 1 or 2 metres away from another human being.

Ironically but not surprisingly, around 12h40 New Zealand time today, https://covid19.govt.nz/ and https://www.stuff.co.nz/ were down, but were back online at 13h04 and 12h53 respectively - I would say it's down to the website not being capable of handling traffic, rather than updating it with the latest information. rnz.co.nz, however, never went down.

- A.M.

I have to add I love what Response Minister Chris Hipkins said yesterday (I read it yesterday, but am typing this today, on the 24th): "We can contact trace our way out of it", https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/445344/live-updates-on-sydney-covid-19-case-wellington-to-move-to-alert-level-2. I actually snorted.

                                                 

    

                                                                                               

Heat and humidity

Heat is not a problem to deal with. Humidity is. If you don't know what humidity is, then you don't understand. If you don't know what humidity is, then you have less of a reason to defend your belief heat is hard to deal with.

You can avoid heat and/or cool your body down. When it is humid, humidity is everywhere and you can't escape it. You can probably use a de-humidifier, but if you are outside your house, I doubt you're going to take a de-humidifier with you (on public transport, to the toilet etc).

You can temporarily stop sweating from humidity, but then within a few minutes, you will start again. You can stop sweating from heat and not start again.

Living in 30-35 on a regular basis is fine. Living in 70-80% humidity, sometimes more, on a regular basis, is not fine. You disbelieve those figures? That is coming from you.

I have lived in 30-35 celsisus regularly to make such a statement. I have lived in 70-80% humidity, sometimes more, on a regular basis, to make such a statement. When within 15 minutes you go from not sweating to sweating, that is quite frankly unacceptable to me. When you have done both or at least experienced humidity, then you can talk to me.

I have experience of different climates: New Zealand, Canada, France, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Viet Nam, Beijing.

I would not say I have a solution to fight humidity, but the below may help before you go to sleep. I don't include a de-humidifier as I have never used one myself, but I have been present when one has been used (I was staying at someone's house in humidity-free New Zealand and it was really effective - it felt much drier afterwards).

- Turn on your aircon if you have one

- Have a cold shower

- Only wear underwear

- Drink a cold glass of water

- Turn off your aircon

- Go to sleep

It sounds contradictory to say this strategy also works with heat, but you can fight heat in the same way. It's a bit extreme if it is not objectively hot, you can subtract the use of the aircon, and then pick and choose between the rest, you don't have to use them all.

In hardcore humidity, you would want to try to move as little as possible while you sleep otherwise you'll just start sweating. Sounds unbelievable? It is not.

It is not unbelievable people sleeptalk, sleepdrive, sleepwalk, snore so loudly, don't snore, smile in bed, move so much when they sleep etc so you better damn well believe humidity is worse than heat.

- A.M.