Lizbet Hush
Dear NZ Media and Politicians:
No matter how much you try to find economists who claim that the COVID elimination strategy is great for the economy, the stories from the ground and reality aren’t reflecting the optimism. Businesses are restructuring and cutting locations, jobs and hours. Some are closing even after many years operating. More than you’re hearing about. We, the public know them. They are friends, family, us.
Tourism businesses can only go so far catering to domestic tourists alone. So if there’s no end in sight to border closures, most aren’t going to survive long term. Add to that, the possibility of the NZ government closing off a third of possible domestic tourists – Auckland – at any time. If the rest of the world starts opening up – and they are – I don’t think tourists will flock to NZ if they will continue to face the cost, inconvenience, invasive testing, and prison sentence of a 14-day quarantine just to visit. No thank you, they’ll be vacationing elsewhere. Just like wealthy NZ yacht owners and holidaymakers heading to Europe, with some unwilling to return as long as quarantine measures at the NZ border remain. There won’t even be money to be made from visiting family members of New Zealanders. No, they’ll stay away, too, for the same reasons.
Tourism isn’t alone. Walk down just about any suburb business street or visit an Auckland mall since the August lockdown. It’s not just one or two shops. It’s four, five and six or more this time. Restaurants, retail, service businesses. There simply isn’t the same retail rebound this time. The public is losing confidence. Even McDonalds is starting to pull out of some malls. Why operate in a mall if it can be closed at any time by the government? Nor can one plan or invest properly in the current COVID policy climate.
Plenty of businesses are actively planning to close at the end of September as the wage subsidy ends. Others have lost their drive to continue long term in New Zealand and plan to close or sell out in the coming months unless there is a change. There are even those who are looking at leaving New Zealand permanently if lockdowns, closed borders and elimination are to remain policy. They’re over it and know they can’t continue to live or do business like this, nor is it a great future for their children.
Potential lockdowns at a moment’s notice are poison to business, creativity and mental health. Mandating masks is still a slow poison as many New Zealanders will stay away or limit their time at indoor businesses if they are forced to wear masks. There are a lot of people for whom wearing masks is uncomfortable at best. Not to mention they are more than capable of reading the fine print on boxes of disposable masks, telling them your average mask doesn’t keep out a virus and isn’t even designed for medical use.
And a vaccine? Even the flu can’t be stopped by one. Nor most other illnesses completely. Did you hear? The WHO has had to retract its recent proclamation that polio has now been eradicated from Africa by vaccine.
Meanwhile, the death rate for Coronavirus continues to drop, even plummet along with increasing proof of previously inflated death rates in many countries overseas. It’s becoming clearer every day that it’s not dangerous for the majority of the population. Two deaths here, this “wave” after over a month of known cases, one over 80 – a tragedy of course definitely and deepest condolences to their loved ones, but how many die every day, every week, every month from cancers, TB, heart attacks, stroke, suicides and many other things including accidents? We don’t do a daily report in the news or from the government about this. We don’t set out the number of cases at 1 p.m. every day. We don’t social distance or mask up. Of course not! We didn’t do this with Swine flu or previous pandemics. It’s never been done like this before. Tell us what changed, please?
Because the truth is, NZ is now using dynamite to blow up the ship in order to kill a flea that’s really only an ant. We’re going to sink if we don’t stop. NZ’s current refusal to change course with updated information doesn’t make sense. No wonder people are starting to question both narratives and motives.
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