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posted by martyb on Thursday June 11 2020, @12:27AM   Printer-friendly
from the what-can-the-rest-of-us-learn-from-this? dept.

New Zealand lifts lockdown as last coronavirus patient recovers:

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced New Zealand will lift its coronavirus lockdown allowing a return to a nearly normal life for the country's five million people, as health officials reported that the final person known to have contracted the infection had recovered.

Making the announcement at a news conference on Monday, Ardern said the government would not let down its guard over the virus and promised to rebuild an economy that has slowed because of the global pandemic.

[...] It has been 17 days since the last new case was reported in New Zealand, and Monday also marked the first time since late February that there have been no active cases.

[...] Officials were eager to stress that the coronavirus remained a concern given the growth of cases elsewhere in the world. Borders would remain closed, Ardern said, describing them as the "first line of defence". Only citizens and residents, with some exceptions, are currently allowed into the country.

[...] Elimination did not mean eradicating the virus permanently from New Zealand, but eliminating "chains of transmission" for at least 28 consecutive days after the last infected person left isolation, which would be on June 15, the ministry said.

[...] Experts say a number of factors have helped the nation wipe out the disease, including its isolated location, along with leadership shown by the prime minister, who imposed a strict lockdown early on during the outbreak.


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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @01:00AM (43 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @01:00AM (#1006092)

    NZ: 1504 cases, 22 dead with COVID per 5 mil, 3 months in lockdown.
    Latvia: 1092 cases, 26 dead with COVID per 1.8 mil, not a single day in lockdown.
    Observe the numbers and try explaining how the world for the "who imposed a strict lockdown early on" came to be "leadership" and not "madness".

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @01:09AM (29 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @01:09AM (#1006096)

    "leadership" and not "madness".

    When the leader is a commie these words are not mutually exclusive.

    Latvia has a population below 2 million and reduced importation of cases due to travel restrictions and other countries shutting down. So it's not exactly as clear cut as you claim.

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by PartTimeZombie on Thursday June 11 2020, @01:18AM (27 children)

      by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Thursday June 11 2020, @01:18AM (#1006101)

      Of course it's not clear cut.

      When Sweden was not doing any sort of shutdown the conservative fools were claiming that's the correct model, but now the numbers are not adding up they've had to switch to somewhere else.

      All that comes after the argument that Grandma ought to die to save the economy turned out to be really unpopular.

      • (Score: 1, Troll) by Captival on Thursday June 11 2020, @01:27AM (5 children)

        by Captival (6866) on Thursday June 11 2020, @01:27AM (#1006106)

        The NASDAQ just hit a record high, over 10,000 yesterday. The DOW is doing great too and largely recovered. Employment is doing way better than anyone predicted, given the circumstances:

        The May jobs report was the "biggest positive data shock" in history after the Labor Department reported a lower-than-expected 13.3 percent unemployment rate, Allianz chief economic adviser Mohamed El-Erian said on Sunday. "This will go down in history as the biggest positive data shock for the markets and the economy."

        As someone so eager to call out fools, you might want to look in the mirror.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @01:50AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @01:50AM (#1006117)

          The job numbers are all fake and have been for years. It's time for universal basic income.

        • (Score: 3, Insightful) by c0lo on Thursday June 11 2020, @02:38AM (1 child)

          by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday June 11 2020, @02:38AM (#1006133) Journal

          NASDAQ and, in general, stockmarket is a poor metric for the health of economy.
          It's irrational - too much based on the feelz of people with money wanting even more money now, everything be damn'd, including long term prospects - this is how US got to depend on China beyond a healthy level.

          --
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @07:11AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @07:11AM (#1006201)

            Well that, and the ungodly amount of money the Fed poured into it to keeps losses at a minimum.

        • (Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Thursday June 11 2020, @02:44AM

          by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Thursday June 11 2020, @02:44AM (#1006137)

          The sharemarket is where it is right now because of the huge amount of taxpayers money governments around the world have been pouring into it in various ways.

          C0lo makes good points, as usual, as well.

          As he notes, pretending a healthy sharemarket is somehow an indication the economy is doing well is wrong.
          It's a weird world when a pandemic has been politicised, but here we are.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @02:45AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @02:45AM (#1006138)

          While he may be a fool, I would not say everything here in the US is hunky-dory.

          The wounds from our imprisonment are deep, very many people are out of a job (indications are that the most recent figures have serious discrepancies), schools and social life disrupted to a degree that will take months to recover from.

          And to see the stock market "recovered" under these conditions, that points to piles and piles of government money injected into the market to shore up prices. Not to mention that the five stocks of FAAMG make up 18% of the SP500, the top 20 stocks make up ~50%: the "market" is strongly skewed to companies that can make shiny things in China, operate a wasteland of social, work online - and get special government dispensation to operate as an "essential" business while small business couldn't get access to the same.

          As an aside, was that the states' gift to Amazon for being a major trailblazer in allowing them to collect sales tax on online orders?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @01:36AM (11 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @01:36AM (#1006110)

        What's wrong with Sweden, inmate?

        • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @01:43AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @01:43AM (#1006114)

          The cock I'm sucking is too thick and long.

        • (Score: 5, Informative) by PartTimeZombie on Thursday June 11 2020, @02:50AM (2 children)

          by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Thursday June 11 2020, @02:50AM (#1006141)

          What's wrong with Sweden...

          Apart from the fact they fucked up their Covid-19 response, nothing. [stuff.co.nz]

          Sweden's top epidemiologist says more should have been done in his country to tackle Covid-19 at the start of the outbreak, in order to keep the death rate down.

          So that's the guy who planned it admitting he got it wrong.

          At 43 deaths per 100,000, Sweden's death rate is among the highest globally and far exceeds that of neighbouring Denmark and Norway, which imposed much tougher lockdowns at the outset of the pandemic.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @11:18AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @11:18AM (#1006233)

            No, that's the guy who was ignored, because politicians, finance scum, lobbyists etc didn't like the recommendations. And it was all over the political spectrum, but for different reasons.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 12 2020, @02:08AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 12 2020, @02:08AM (#1006727)

            Apart from the fact they fucked up their Covid-19 response, nothing.

            You in mass-imprisonment countries and your mainstream media truly suffer from Stockholm Syndrome. Desperate to justify your government's fuckups when Sweden, with its minimal restrictions, only has a 5% additional death load due to Covid when compared to the previous non-Covid year total deaths.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @03:27AM (3 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @03:27AM (#1006156)

          What's wrong with Sweden, inmate?

          Sweden are commies. Volvo, Hasselblad. Now both sold to China. Hasselblad is part of the spy-drone empire known as DJI.
          Back in the 70's and Abba, the Swedes were financing one AK-47 rifle for communist-backed "freedom" fighters (terrorists) for every vehicle sold. So if you or your dad bought a Volvo back then, you have blood on your hands worse than the slavery stain that is currently being newsworthy.

          • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @03:47AM (2 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @03:47AM (#1006161)

            Volvo, Hasselblad. Now both sold to China

            Facts:

            Volvo [wikipedia.org]

            Automobile manufacturer Volvo Cars, also based in Gothenburg, was part of AB Volvo until 1999, when it was sold to the Ford Motor Company.

            Hasselblad [wikipedia.org]

            In January 2003, the Shriro Group [wikipedia.org] acquired a majority shareholding in Hasselblad. The group had been the distributors for Hasselblad in Japan, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan ROC, Singapore, and Malaysia for over 45 years.
            ...
            On 30 June 2011, private equity firm Ventizz announced it had acquired a 100% stake in Hasselblad.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @01:29PM (1 child)

              by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @01:29PM (#1006275)

              Next sentence on Volvo:

              Since 2010 it has been owned by the Chinese multinational automotive company Geely Holding Group.

              • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday June 11 2020, @04:19PM

                by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday June 11 2020, @04:19PM (#1006373) Journal

                Next sentence on Volvo:

                Since 2010 it has been owned by the Chinese multinational automotive company Geely Holding Group.

                Sold to China by... Americans. By that argument "Sweden America are commies."

                --
                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
        • (Score: 4, Funny) by driverless on Thursday June 11 2020, @05:23AM (2 children)

          by driverless (4770) on Thursday June 11 2020, @05:23AM (#1006185)

          What's wrong with Sweden, inmate?

          I wouldn't go there, I hear the møøse bites kan be pretti nasti.

          • (Score: 2) by coolgopher on Thursday June 11 2020, @05:35AM (1 child)

            by coolgopher (1157) on Thursday June 11 2020, @05:35AM (#1006187)

            Absolutely. Especially very late autumn when they've been eating rotting/fermenting apples and are a bit drunk as a result. Moose are angry drunks from what I've seen.

            Ps. you wanted ö not ø, lest you end up in Denmark or Norway instead

            • (Score: 2) by driverless on Thursday June 11 2020, @05:44AM

              by driverless (4770) on Thursday June 11 2020, @05:44AM (#1006190)

              Ps. you wanted ö not ø, lest you end up in Denmark or Norway instead

              Norway? Where they filmed such classics as "The Høt Hands of an Oslo Dentist", "Fillings of Passion", and "The Huge Mølars of Horst Nordfink"?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @02:11AM (3 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @02:11AM (#1006125)

        Last I looked, around 1/3 Swedish deaths were immigrants and half from care homes. The care home workers are on contract without health insurance (incentive to work when ill) and were not provided PPE. Immigrant communities have an entirely different culture and did not heed social distancing advice.

        The argument was always that the end result would be the same but antibody tests show it's only infected a tiny percentage of the population and more harsh critics are mentioning Sweden's history with eugenics (hello Cuomo). What is woreth noting is the figures are now similar to the UK which entered lockdown late. The question remains, is lockdown going to have made a difference when the pandemic ends? Will we even have useful figures since the virus apparently doesn't spread to people protesting racism, an evil and potentially deadly assertion if ever there was one.

        • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday June 11 2020, @02:58AM

          by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday June 11 2020, @02:58AM (#1006146) Journal

          The question remains, is lockdown going to have made a difference when the pandemic ends?

          It sure could have made a difference. [Citation](https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?sid=37954)

          --
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @03:04AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @03:04AM (#1006148)

          First the stats:
          In year 2018, 92k people died in Sweden (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Sweden).
          This year, 4700 people or so will die of Covid-19 in Sweden (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronavirus_in_Sweden).
          That's 5% of all deaths, so a public health concern, but not the end of the world.

          Last I looked, around 1/3 Swedish deaths were immigrants and half from care homes. The care home workers are on contract without health insurance (incentive to work when ill) and were not provided PPE.

          Who cares whether they were immigrants? Treat them, and if you don't have sufficient resources then address that as best as you can (without imprisoning the population).

          Immigrant communities have an entirely different culture and did not heed social distancing advice.

          That was the entire point of Sweden's policy, to not force life to cease like was done in other countries. Social distancing is inhumane, good on the immigrants for retaining their humanity in the face of mass panic and idiocy.

          more harsh critics are mentioning Sweden's history with eugenics (hello Cuomo).

          Anything the Democrats don't like is identified with Hitler, eugenics etc. Literally. But Trump spouted off some uninformed comments on Sweden's handling of Covid-19 too.

        • (Score: 2) by toddestan on Friday June 12 2020, @05:30PM

          by toddestan (4982) on Friday June 12 2020, @05:30PM (#1006964)

          Will we even have useful figures since the virus apparently doesn't spread to people protesting racism, an evil and potentially deadly assertion if ever there was one.

          The people out protesting are primarily young people, who for the most part haven't really had a need to worry about the virus in the first place.

      • (Score: 2, Interesting) by driverless on Thursday June 11 2020, @05:16AM (4 children)

        by driverless (4770) on Thursday June 11 2020, @05:16AM (#1006184)

        When Sweden was not doing any sort of shutdown the conservative fools were claiming that's the correct model, but now the numbers are not adding up they've had to switch to somewhere else.

        The ones I know haven't switched, they've simply said the jury's still out on Sweden. Also, the jury's still out whether Covid19 is a real problem or not. By carefully avoiding setting any success criteria, "once we reach this many deaths we'll admit it's a problem", it's possible to stay in denial indefinitely because no matter how bad it gets the jury will still be out.

        • (Score: 2) by Tokolosh on Thursday June 11 2020, @02:25PM (3 children)

          by Tokolosh (585) on Thursday June 11 2020, @02:25PM (#1006296)

          The jury is still out on New Zealand, Latvia, Viet Nam. This isn't over. The countdown for the second wave in New Zealand has started, and the clock is running.

          • (Score: 3, Informative) by PartTimeZombie on Thursday June 11 2020, @07:51PM (2 children)

            by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Thursday June 11 2020, @07:51PM (#1006556)

            You might be right, but our government listened to the advice of the people who have spent their lives studying this stuff, and acted accordingly. The opposition didn't politicise the science to their credit, and I know where I'd rather be.

            Oh, and part of their advice was to be nice to each other.

            • (Score: 2) by Absolutely.Geek on Thursday June 11 2020, @10:07PM (1 child)

              by Absolutely.Geek (5328) on Thursday June 11 2020, @10:07PM (#1006619)

              Overall I think we (NZ) have done well; we are at level 1 now; which is basically a fully open economy but with strict border controls.

              It will be interesting to see over the next year how the economy recovers; how the impact of basically no tourism and slowed international markets will be felt.

              --
              Don't trust the police or the government - Shihad: My mind's sedate.
              • (Score: 3, Interesting) by driverless on Friday June 12 2020, @12:01AM

                by driverless (4770) on Friday June 12 2020, @12:01AM (#1006671)

                It will be interesting to see over the next year how the economy recovers; how the impact of basically no tourism and slowed international markets will be felt.

                A long-standing problem with NZ tourists (meaning NZers travelling, not travellers to NZ) is that it's synonymous with "go overseas". I know various European cities far better than I do any NZ city except Auckland and Wellington. So given the limited travel options this could lead to a wave of NZ tourists travelling locally, which will help lessen the impact on the tourist industry. In terms of international stuff, we've always shipped everything in and out over long distances so it won't lead to too much change there. While the market slowdown will hit, I don't know if it'll be that bad for our particular primary industries. So there'll be a contraction of the economy, but probably not as dire as you'd think due to the reallocation of spending in other areas.

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by driverless on Thursday June 11 2020, @05:12AM

      by driverless (4770) on Thursday June 11 2020, @05:12AM (#1006183)

      You've also got to look at the culture and the country. Didn't spend much time in Latvia but Estonia was miles and miles of absolutely nothing once you leave Tallinn, social distancing isn't a special effort there it's a way of life. There were places there that seemed like they were out of the set for a horror movie, and I don't mean that in a derogatory way but just that everything was very bleak and isolated and empty-looking, we'd drive through small hamlets and not see a living thing there. So lock down Tallinn, tell everyone else to keep going as before, and you've got 100% isolation of cases.

  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @01:22AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @01:22AM (#1006103)

    This, and TFS mentioning that until the last INDIVIDUAL affected was adjudged rehabilitated, ALL 5 million citizens had their civil rights suspended.

  • (Score: 2) by shortscreen on Thursday June 11 2020, @01:53AM

    by shortscreen (2252) on Thursday June 11 2020, @01:53AM (#1006119) Journal

    Low infection and fatality rates with a lockdown. Low infection and fatality rates without a lockdown.

    Either one of those looks pretty good compared to some places.

  • (Score: 1, Troll) by qzm on Thursday June 11 2020, @02:46AM (7 children)

    by qzm (3260) on Thursday June 11 2020, @02:46AM (#1006139)

    Compare to Vietnam
    332 total cases, 330 recovered, 0 deaths.
    Heavy testing on people entering the country, targeted quarantines in places where there seems to be a breakout.
    Significantly less economic impact

    NZ has yet to start testing of people entering the country...
    NZ is expecting to DOUBLE its national debt because of its CV19 reaction.

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by PartTimeZombie on Thursday June 11 2020, @02:53AM (5 children)

      by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Thursday June 11 2020, @02:53AM (#1006144)

      NZ has yet to start testing of people entering the country...

      Another easily disproved lie. [health.govt.nz]

      • (Score: 2) by qzm on Thursday June 11 2020, @03:23AM (3 children)

        by qzm (3260) on Thursday June 11 2020, @03:23AM (#1006154)

        Bzzzz.... wrong.. they are about to start, unless you count special cases... Perhaps to be pedantic I should have said 'full testing'?

        They have walked through all previous levels with no testing of people entering, except in special circumstances (the example the film crews who got 'special dispensation' to enter, or people showing symptoms)

        From the very page you linked:
        'Before leaving the facility a final health check will be carried out confirming the traveller:
                has a temperature below 38 degrees Celsius
                has not tested positive for COVID-19 or is not a probable case
                does not have symptoms of COVID-19
                has a suitable travel plan.'

        notice the 'or is not a probable case'?

        • (Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Thursday June 11 2020, @03:43AM

          by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Thursday June 11 2020, @03:43AM (#1006160)

          Shit, how many cases have we got again?

        • (Score: 2) by coolgopher on Thursday June 11 2020, @05:37AM (1 child)

          by coolgopher (1157) on Thursday June 11 2020, @05:37AM (#1006188)

          You mean when they leave the quarantine facility after the mandatory 14 day quarantine...?

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @04:15PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @04:15PM (#1006367)

            The best lies are ones of ommission. The Republican Way. Well, they also love bald faced lies, they probably think it is patriotic cause bald headed eagles *eyeroll* *facepalm*

      • (Score: 2) by qzm on Thursday June 18 2020, @06:16AM

        by qzm (3260) on Thursday June 18 2020, @06:16AM (#1009450)

        Not that anyone comes back here, but just thought I would point out that the top has now blown of the New Zealand Prime Ministers claim that 'everyone leaking quarantine would be tested' as it turned out nearly NO ONE leaving quarantine has been tested, and those in quarantine have been told it is voluntary.

        It appears their great leader does enjoy lying to her people just as much as most others do..

        So much for that theory, want to try spinning ANOTHER lie?

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by c0lo on Thursday June 11 2020, @03:21AM

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday June 11 2020, @03:21AM (#1006152) Journal

      NZ is expecting to DOUBLE its national debt because of its CV19 reaction.

      Comparison games? Well, I can play it too:

      NZ [euronews.com] - national debt per capita NZD17725/capita = UDS11558/capita in 4 years

      The island nation will invest 50 billion New Zealand dollars (€27.7 billion) over the next four years to boost the economy. As a result, public debt is expected to shoot up from 20% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 54% in 2023.

      US [bbc.com] - national debt per capita USD12333/capita this year

      The US Congressional Budget Office last month predicted the budget deficit would hit $3.7tn this year, while the national debt soared above 100% of GDP.

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @02:53AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @02:53AM (#1006143)

    "leadership" and not "madness"

    I can tell you aren't describing His Orange Clownness the God Emperor of Free 'murica.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @06:43PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @06:43PM (#1006498)

    That's easy to explain. It's called "cherrypicking your data".

  • (Score: 2) by Absolutely.Geek on Thursday June 11 2020, @10:20PM

    by Absolutely.Geek (5328) on Thursday June 11 2020, @10:20PM (#1006627)

    Also compare Solvaka; it has around 10% more people then us; they took a similar stand and have had similar outcomes; yes they implemented a mandatory mask in public policy, but that seems more to indicate internally that people are following the lockdown and promote national unity, rather then for the requirement to slow the spread.

    When comparing the Swedish and Slovak responses; rather then the NZ vs Sweden response; you don't have the geographic isolation of NZ, which some people use as an excuse for success; when realistically it is the response that the nation takes.

    --
    Don't trust the police or the government - Shihad: My mind's sedate.