The prime minister did not quarantine airport arrivals or turn away infected cruise ships, and for her failures we pay the price of being locked in our homes for weeks.

Wibble commented on Wendy Geus’s post Massive Quarantine Operation Could Have Avoided Extreme Lock down

“Jacinda said that it was “just too hard” to check everyone who might have the virus coming into the country, because there are so incredibly many of them. So it is best to wait until almost everyone with the virus is already in the country, and then only check the tiny few straglers still remaining. And the media and all Jacinda voters see absolutely no problem with that ‘strategy’.”

It is six weeks after our first case and two weeks into lockdown when the PM finally agrees to quarantine all arrivals.

Under lockdown, the ministry admits to breaching privacy legislation by releasing the names of two COVID-19 cases. But instead of addressing their own internal failing they simply refuse to share detailed information on new cases. They won’t give us affected suburbs or timely information about new clusters. A Newspaper reports that once again, we pay the price for the government’s mistakes. 

“Up until last week, specific information about clusters including their exact location was published online. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said today that approach changed because of a privacy breach by the ministry.”

We are the whipping dog for incompetent handling of COVID-19. At some point, hopefully, sooner than later, this dog will wake up and bite the hand that has treated it with disdain. The dog gratefully licking the prime minister’s hand today, because it thinks it’s off the hook from the disease, will bare its teeth. Comforted by flattened numbers of COVID-19 cases under lockdown and with more tests being carried out the PM says she is “cautiously optimistic.” She is lulled into a false sense of security.

Initially, testing was restricted and sick people complained they were refused testing because they lacked the travel element. There was also confusion around the testing criteria, which were recently expanded. Was this to cope with an initial shortage of test kits?

No one knows how many asymptomatic virus carriers are triggering new clusters or how many people still harbour the disease because, although the criteria for recovery have changed several times, they still don’t include a negative test — which is fundamental overseas practice.

The government is also keeping the location of new Covid hotspots to themselves.

“An Auckland COVID-19 cluster comprised of [sic] dozens of positive coronavirus cases is shrouded in mystery, with the Prime Minister and the Director-General of Health both refusing to provide further details.

“Government officials are staying mum on the cluster, which they’ve revealed involves 25 people and originated in an Auckland workplace, but won’t say any more about.”

Corralled at home we are like children fed just enough information to encourage optimism. When medical staff complain they lack PPE why would we believe the ministry that says there’s plenty to go around? Shortages are simply a distribution issue they say. Coincidentally, the same explanation applies to complaints about a shortage of nasal swabs. Michael Morrah writing for Newshub says there “appears to be a massive disconnect with what the public is being told, and what is actually happening on the ground.”

“Despite constant assurances that we have thousands [of nasal swabs], I am speaking to doctors on a daily basis who say they’re struggling to get enough (5 at a time), or have been told by labs their practice cannot get any as there is not enough.

“Early in this crisis, I put a simple question to the Health Ministry’s media team about Personal Protective Equipment.

“It took FOUR days to get a response, and when I did, the information provided was vague, unhelpful, and did not answer my question.”

Plugging the borders in early March would certainly have avoided the Ruby Princess clusters, and who knows how many others? This week the PM’s excuse for not quarantining earlier was the unavailability of hotel rooms, but what about the Whangaparoa Naval Base available since February, or the numerous military and church camps up and down the country? Leaky borders guaranteed community spread and economic uncertainty. We will bear the brunt of government stuff ups.

The NZ Timeline of COVID-19

2019

  • 17 November – first case in Wuhan, Hubei province China but not reported until 8 April 2020 when the South China Morning Post accessed previously unreleased government data
  • November – American intelligence officers knew a new contagion was sweeping Wuhan in November but they couldn’t get the message through to the top, according to ABC News. As we are part of Five Eyes, when was our intelligence service, and the PM, alerted?
  • 27 December – first cluster of 180(?) incurable pneumonia cases reported to Chinese health authorities
  • 31 December – China notified WHO of the Wuhan pneumonia outbreak

2020

  • 21 January – WHO first situation report released
  • 24 January – NZ Ministry of Health sets up a monitoring group and says we are currently a low risk
  • 25 January – Australia reports its first three cases
  • 27 January – NZ public health staff start meeting flights from China to look for signs of the virus
  • 30 January – NZ government charters an Air New Zealand flight to evacuate New Zealanders from Wuhan
  • 31 January – WHO declares COVID-19 a public health emergency of international concern
  • 3 February – New Zealand Government places entry restrictions on foreign nationals travelling here from, or transiting through, mainland China, and those who can enter the country must self-isolate for 14 days
  • 6 February – flight from Wuhan arrives with 193 passengers who are quarantined for 14 days at a naval base in Whangaparaoa
  • 8 February – Diamond Princess with two New Zealanders on board is berthed in Yokohama with 64 passengers infected and quarantined in their rooms
  • 12 February – WHO names the novel coronavirus COVID-19
  • 17 February – first death outside China reported in France, and 60 million people in Hubei province are told to stay home
  • 19 February – Iran reports its first case
  • 22 February – the Diamond Princess now reports 634 cases and proves cruise ships are Petri dishes for the virus, with a 890% increase in 14 days. Italy quarantines more than 50,000 people from 11 different municipalities in the north of the country
  • 26 February – increased cases in Italy, Iran and South Korea outnumber reported cases in China
  • 28 February – NZ reports our first case, a traveller from Iran. Muslim family members of people who died in the Christchurch mosque shootings said they were unhappy about a public commemoration on the March 15 anniversary. They are ignored.
  • 29 February – NZ health staff begin meeting direct flights landing at New Zealand airports from Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand
  • 4 March – NZ’s second case, who flew in from northern Italy
  • 5 March – our third case, a family member of someone who flew in from Iran
  • 6 March – our fourth case, related to travel from Italy
  • 7 March – our fifth case, related to travel from Iran
  • 8 March – more than 100 countries report cases
  • 8 March – Ruby Princess docks in Sydney, having travelled from Port Chalmers with 158 sick passengers on board, 13 registering high temperatures. Nine were tested in Sydney however ALL passengers were allowed to disembark including a Northern Territory couple who flew to Darwin and later tested positive for COVID-19
  • 10 March – the whole of Italy is put into lockdown
  • 11 March – WHO declares a pandemic
  • 12 March – Ruby Princess sails from Sydney with 2,700 new passengers on board and docks in Port Chalmers on Thursday 12 March, Wellington on Saturday 14 March and Napier on Sunday 15 March without alerting passengers that coronavirus cases were suspected on board. Clusters developed in Wellington and Napier.
  • 13 March – Auckland’s Pasifika Festival is cancelled due to concerns about the risk of the virus spreading into the Pacific and Europe is now the epicentre of the pandemic
  • 14 March – our sixth case, related to travel from the US. The NZ Government announces anyone entering the country must self-isolate for 14 days, except those arriving from the Pacific. Cruise ships are banned from the country but the Ruby Princess continues its voyage from Wellington to Napier. Strict border measures for people travelling from New Zealand to the Pacific are put in place, including health assessment requirements. France and Spain go into lockdown but NO strict border measures for NZ airport arrivals. Tomorrow’s Christchurch mosque commemorations are cancelled at the last minute
  • 15 March – two more travel-related cases bring our total to eight, and Grant Robertson says the government is expecting a serious blow to the economy from the effects of the virus and the travel ban
  • 15-18 March – Ruby Princess docks in Napier causing a cluster of cases
  • 16 March – Jacinda Ardern says any tourists that enter New Zealand and don’t self-quarantine will be deported. Germany closes its borders with France, Austria and Switzerland, Canada shuts its borders to foreign nationals except for US citizens. Other countries with border closures include Poland, the Czech Republic and Denmark. Our airports remain open to incoming travellers, who are NOT checked for COVID-19
  • 17 March – three new cases are confirmed in New Zealand, and Healthline is monitoring 2875 people in self-isolation. The government announces a $12.1 billion package, worth 4 percent of the country’s GDP. The package includes a $500 million boost for health, $8.7 billion in support for businesses and jobs and $2.8 billion for income support and boosting consumer spending. A Dunedin school will close for the next two days after a pupil is confirmed to be the country’s 12th case of COVID-19
  • 18 March – NZ has eight new cases, all travel-related
  • 19 March – NZ has another eight cases, all travel-related. Indoor gatherings of more than 100 people are to be cancelled. Our borders are closed to all but NZ citizens and permanent residents but still no airport checks
  • 20 March – 11 more cases of COVID-19 are confirmed. Auckland Council closes pools, libraries, galleries and other community facilities for 14 days. Worldwide it has taken more than three months to reach the first 100,000 cases, and only 12 days to reach the next 100,000.
  • 21 March – we have 13 new cases including our first two suspected cases of community transmission. Government introduces the four-stage alert system, saying we are already at Level Two with no explanation of when we went into Level One.
  • 22 March – we have 14 new cases; some are suspected community transmission and PM announces we are at Level Three and will move to Level Four in 48 hours. People are instructed to stay at home. Schools and other educational facilities will be closed from 24 March. All non-essential businesses will close (this excludes essential businesses like supermarkets, pharmacies and medical clinics.) Travel will be severely limited and healthcare services will be re-prioritised. First Pacific death in Guam with cases in Fiji (2), Papua New Guinea (1), French Polynesia (11), New Caledonia (4) and Hawaii (48). Nauru, Tonga, Samoa and Tuvalu have all declared a state of emergency
  • 24 March – 24 new cases including four confirmed community transmission
  • 25 March – 50 new cases. A state of emergency is declared and the country goes into lockdown under Level Four at midnight, for a minimum of four weeks 
  • 26-28 March – under lockdown with a daily increase of new cases
  • 28 & 30 March – each day has 100 diagnosed and probable new cases which is the highest number of daily new cases to date
  • 29 March – first NZ death
  • 31 March – total cases 647 with 74 people recovered
  • 1-7 April – new cases bring the total number to 1,120 with 65 recovered. Returning travellers take the virus back to their families in lockdown
  • 6-10 April – a drop in daily new cases causing unsupported optimism given we have no idea about the number of asymptomatic cases of community spread yet to be revealed
  • 9 April – Well overdue, the government FINALLY tightens the borders, making 14 days quarantine mandatory for returning New Zealanders and ending incoming COVID-19. This day we have 29 new diagnosed and probable cases, the lowest daily number to date
  • 10 April – second death and 1,283 total cases

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I am happily a New Zealander whose heritage shaped but does not define. Four generations ago my forebears left overcrowded, poverty ridden England, Ireland and Germany for better prospects here. They were...