By drip-feeding information and up-grading our Covid-19 status on a weekly basis, the government is stretching out the pain for every New Zealander.
Each announcement has resulted in a mad rush for the supermarkets from that same old panic buying group that has to get in ahead of everybody else – just in case. You know, the selfish ones who have no consideration for anybody else, least of all for the vulnerable among us who are already struggling.
The government really does need to show some courage and act quickly in the best interests of all New Zealanders. That means going for Level 4 right NOW.
What do we have to lose? What does the government have to lose?
At this stage, the facts are clear, far clearer than they are for the climate change nonsense which they’ve already signed up to, yet they seem reluctant to do the one thing that will save New Zealand from a whole domino effect of crises that the world experience says will happen sometime in the next week to ten days.
The question is whether we do it in the easiest and most effective way by striking right now, or do we wait and see what happens and react when it happens?
Business is grinding to a standstill and many New Zealanders are at risk of losing their livelihoods. By acting NOW, government can be proactive and nip the cursed thing in the bud. Within a matter of weeks or a month or two, we will be back on the road to economic and health recovery.
If we leave it, we could end up like Italy. The process could take months or even years and people will die. Not just people who catch the Covid-19 virus, but others who will be unable to access our health system because it will be swamped.
I note in a newspaper that Dr Kelvin Ward, a front line medic, has authored a petition asking the Government to raise the alert level to the highest possible NOW
Almost 3,000 people, including front-line health workers, are petitioning the Government to activate Covid-19 Alert Level Four immediately.
The petition’s author, Dr Kelvin Ward, said raising the alert to the highest possible level was the only way for New Zealand to ensure it survives the virus with minimal impact.
As of 3pm, 2,900 had signed the petition calling for:
Quarantine, not self-isolation, of all Covid-19 positive patients
Extensive testing and contact tracing
Self-isolation of all asymptomatic contacts
Mandatory social lockdown
“If we want to prevent this epidemic becoming exponential, we have to take some drastic measures,” Ward said.
“We know that there is a burden of disease in the community which hasn’t been detected and we will not know that burden until days, or weeks, later.”
Just what I and several others have been saying all along.
Let’s get on with it. Show some leadership government. It’s been too little too late for too long!
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