Well, here we are, with 3 confirmed cases of the virus in New Zealand. It seems that the answer to the question as to what 3 things you would take with you on a desert island is: toilet paper, bottled water and hand sanitiser. Dettol now seems to be joining the ranks of items most required on a desert island too, if my visit to the supermarket this morning was anything to go by. Everyone seems to be ignoring the fact that, if they are forced into self-isolation, there are alternatives that can be used as toilet paper (such as tissues, kitchen roll and paper napkins), and water still comes out of the tap, but it might be hard to go without food for two weeks. Nevertheless, there is a lot of fear and concern out there, resulting in behaviour that we can only describe as very strange indeed…
We shouldn’t panic, but there is definitely a feeling that the government is asleep at the wheel on coronavirus.
As the world’s leaders attempt to fight the virus’ spread and its walloping economic effect, New Zealanders aren’t confident that our Government can prevent a large-scale outbreak, and many are worried about catching it themselves.
These fears have led Kiwis to back much more drastic action such as a travel ban on far more countries, with less than half believing the Government has done a good job of fighting the novel COVID-19 disease so far.
This surely is borne out by the fact that the lady who turned out to be the country’s second case came in from Italy in late February and was able to simply walk into the country without any screening at the airport, come into contact with all and sundry… and now our third case is thought to be a case of direct transmission from another infected person.
New Zealanders were particularly despairing of the country’s border controls and quarantine arrangements.
Just 37 per cent were confident that quarantine and border systems will prevent a large-scale outbreak, while 47 per cent were not confident.
A sizeable majority (55 per cent) want travel bans on all passengers from countries where the virus has caused death .
The poll showed that less than half (47 per cent) of Kiwis were satisfied with the Government’s handling of the issue, while a third were dissatisfied (34 per cent) and 19 per cent were unsure.
Only four in ten (39 per cent) thought New Zealand’s doctors were adequately trained to deal with the novel coronavirus, and a vast majority (85 per cent) thought it would hurt the economy.
Anxiety about the virus was strong, with 41 per cent of Kiwis worried about contracting the virus themselves, compared to 47 per cent who were unworried and 12 per cent unsure.
Stuff.
It seems that the government has not done enough to stop the pandemic from coming into the country, or from spreading here. Medical professionals mostly seem to agree that the disease will spread far and wide, now that it is here, and that little can be done to stop it.
But there is one small silver lining to all this.
During pandemics, we do not hold large public gatherings, as the virus could easily spread at such events, with people in attendance who do not realise they have the virus. And we are just over a week away from commemorations of the March 15, 2019 mosque attacks.
The Muslim community does not want a commemoration, saying they would prefer to be allowed to get on with their lives, and that this is not the way they do things, and I really think this should be respected. After all, we don’t hold services for the Aramoana shootings year after year. But, so far, the services are set to go ahead, particularly in Christchurch. Now, however, with the outbreak of coronavirus in this country, and an unknown number of people infected but not yet aware of it, it makes no sense to hold the service, when all it will do is encourage the spread of the virus.
This is a great photo opportunity for Jacinda, of course, who once again will play dress-ups and hug people, and delight everyone on the world stage, but it is the wrong thing to do. Large public gatherings are the last thing we should be doing at a time like this.
I suspect that this will be something of a relief to members of the Christchurch Muslim community, who do not want to be paraded around in public for the benefit of Jacinda’s international reputation. In any event, this service should be cancelled immediately, on the grounds that large public gatherings should not be permitted to go ahead while we face the risk of a pandemic.
If this robs Jacinda of a much wanted opportunity to grace the magazine covers again, well, what can I say? Oh dear. How sad. Never mind. But if the service goes ahead, it will demonstrate how stupid and irresponsible this government really is… and how it is more important to Jacinda to grandstand on the world stage than to look after her own citizens.
If the service still does go ahead, hopefully no one will turn up. It is no disrespect to the dead. A service will not bring them back. But it might save a few others from catching the very infectious virus, and that should be front and centre of the government’s thinking at a time like this.
My money is on the service going ahead, few people turning up, but Jacinda still appearing on magazine covers, so it won’t have been a wasted opportunity after all.
Exactly how confident people will feel about the government if this service does go ahead will remain to be seen. It will certainly show how shallow and self-centred our prime minister really is.
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