COVID-19 Stuff Here
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waiopehu oldboy
Stirling Mortlock (74)
Not sure if it's gotten coverage over there but our Parliament grounds & surrounds have for the past 13 days been the site of what's ostensibly an anti- mask and/ or vaccine mandate protest. Up to 1000 people on-site most of the time, ~500 tents & other structures incl portaloos & food trucks, ~800 vehicles blocking streets plus the nearby bus interchange. It's forced the closure of the High Court, one of Victoria Uni's schools & numerous businesses. People incl school children have been abused & spat on for wearing masks & generally trying to go about their business.
To be fair there do seem to be people there who don't seem opposed to masks & vaccines, just the mandating of them for certain people. Some of the examples they use seem barely credible but I'm happy to give them the benefit of the doubt. But mostly it's crazy town: vaccination has been characterised as a genocide on brown people being perpetrated by white people by one group & as a genocide of white people being perpetrated by "global elites" by another group just metres away.
Depending on who you listen to, the government is either a fascist or communist dictatorship, possibly even satanic. And obviously the media are complicit so they, too, will be subject to trial & execution when "the people" rise up & "take back their Country". Summed up perfectly by a woman carrying a placard reading "Love Is The Cure" while screaming at a journo that she (the journo, not the screaming one) would be executed for "crimes against humanity".
Meanwhile the Police have pretty much given up even pretending to have the situation under control: the protesters now have their own security controlling who comes & goes: portaloo emptiers & food suppliers are permitted, medics are tolerated (but frequently abused & threatened), even some journos have been allowed in (but also abused & threatened).
On about day three ~120 arrests were made but that is apparently the maximum number of people the Police can detain in Wellington at any given time. On the same day ~350 vehicles were ticketed & another 150-odd have been ticketed since but so far a grand total of two illegally-parked vehicles have been towed & maybe 20 or 30 voluntarily moved to allow emergency vehicle access.
To their credit the leaders of all the parties with MP (Moana Pasifika)'s have said they won't meet with the occupiers & have re-endorsed the mask & vaccine mandates while calling on the Gov to set dates for their lifting (Gov position is that mandates will end when no longer required but that it's impossible to set a firm date just yet).
Similar but smaller occupations are now underway in Christchurch & Picton: I'm guessing the latter is because you need to be vaccinated to cross from the South Island to the North. Supposedly 30% of kiwis are at least somewhat sympathetic or supportive of the protests but interestingly we continue to get boosted by the thousand every day & the 5-11yo program is progressing rapidly, too, so I'm not sure how genuine some of the sympathy or support really is.
Omicron has really taken off & Delta is still circulating, too: near enough 2000 cases yesterday & the day before, probably 4000/ day by next weekend at the current rate of increase. Testing numbers are up 25% since late January so maybe all those holidays did contribute to the low rates. The test positivity rate is also increasing, up to just over 6%* yesterday which double what it was a month ago. Hospitalisations also up, triple the number from just three weeks ago but so far the hospitals seem to be coping & there hasn't been a surge in ICU numbers yet.
Edit: 2252 cases & 100 in hospital today, both record numbers. Still no-one in ICU.
* Edit: today's figures suggest a 9% positivity rate which would be well above anything encountered elsewhere. Possibly its inflated by some testing sites in South Auckland, which is again ground zero, only testing people who say they've been identified as close contacts or who are symptomatic. From tomorrow anyone who is neither of those will be offered a RAT but for the last few days they've just been told to go home & only come back if symptomatic or a close contact.
To be fair there do seem to be people there who don't seem opposed to masks & vaccines, just the mandating of them for certain people. Some of the examples they use seem barely credible but I'm happy to give them the benefit of the doubt. But mostly it's crazy town: vaccination has been characterised as a genocide on brown people being perpetrated by white people by one group & as a genocide of white people being perpetrated by "global elites" by another group just metres away.
Depending on who you listen to, the government is either a fascist or communist dictatorship, possibly even satanic. And obviously the media are complicit so they, too, will be subject to trial & execution when "the people" rise up & "take back their Country". Summed up perfectly by a woman carrying a placard reading "Love Is The Cure" while screaming at a journo that she (the journo, not the screaming one) would be executed for "crimes against humanity".
Meanwhile the Police have pretty much given up even pretending to have the situation under control: the protesters now have their own security controlling who comes & goes: portaloo emptiers & food suppliers are permitted, medics are tolerated (but frequently abused & threatened), even some journos have been allowed in (but also abused & threatened).
On about day three ~120 arrests were made but that is apparently the maximum number of people the Police can detain in Wellington at any given time. On the same day ~350 vehicles were ticketed & another 150-odd have been ticketed since but so far a grand total of two illegally-parked vehicles have been towed & maybe 20 or 30 voluntarily moved to allow emergency vehicle access.
To their credit the leaders of all the parties with MP (Moana Pasifika)'s have said they won't meet with the occupiers & have re-endorsed the mask & vaccine mandates while calling on the Gov to set dates for their lifting (Gov position is that mandates will end when no longer required but that it's impossible to set a firm date just yet).
Similar but smaller occupations are now underway in Christchurch & Picton: I'm guessing the latter is because you need to be vaccinated to cross from the South Island to the North. Supposedly 30% of kiwis are at least somewhat sympathetic or supportive of the protests but interestingly we continue to get boosted by the thousand every day & the 5-11yo program is progressing rapidly, too, so I'm not sure how genuine some of the sympathy or support really is.
Omicron has really taken off & Delta is still circulating, too: near enough 2000 cases yesterday & the day before, probably 4000/ day by next weekend at the current rate of increase. Testing numbers are up 25% since late January so maybe all those holidays did contribute to the low rates. The test positivity rate is also increasing, up to just over 6%* yesterday which double what it was a month ago. Hospitalisations also up, triple the number from just three weeks ago but so far the hospitals seem to be coping & there hasn't been a surge in ICU numbers yet.
Edit: 2252 cases & 100 in hospital today, both record numbers. Still no-one in ICU.
* Edit: today's figures suggest a 9% positivity rate which would be well above anything encountered elsewhere. Possibly its inflated by some testing sites in South Auckland, which is again ground zero, only testing people who say they've been identified as close contacts or who are symptomatic. From tomorrow anyone who is neither of those will be offered a RAT but for the last few days they've just been told to go home & only come back if symptomatic or a close contact.
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formerflanker
Ken Catchpole (46)
Thanks for the first-hand observations.
No, I don't think too much coverage has hit the media here in Sydney. Some reports, but not widespread. A quick browse of the web also shows limited coverage by Oz media.
But then, the massive Canadian anti-mandate trucker protest hasn't received much coverage either.
formerflanker
Ken Catchpole (46)
Because it is news.
You appear to be an advocate of the mantra "Journalism is about covering important stories, with a pillow, until they stop breathing".
Tex
Greg Davis (50)
I'm reminded about how the 2008 'Occupy' protests were dealt with by police in Victoria. They were in a city square, not blocking business or causing significant risk to any one, but were cleared out with batons and divvy vans.
Maybe the policing manual has changed since then?
Dismal Pillock
Simon Poidevin (60)
Time to make the call.
Get Gunston Heavy Industries Riot Water Cannon Division on the scene
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Do GHI supply the ocean to run that horizontal bidet?
Dismal Pillock
Simon Poidevin (60)
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I'm not worthy!!Hell no. Outsourced.
formerflanker
Ken Catchpole (46)
I know some of us have differences here, but we can all laugh at 9News faux pas yesterday and subsequent apology.
Last night our report on the Queen contained a shot that should not have been included.
The shot was included as a result of human error.
We were highlighting an approved infusion medication called Sotrovimab and the report accidentally cut to a shot of Stromectol - a product which contains Ivermectin.
Last night our report on the Queen contained a shot that should not have been included.
The shot was included as a result of human error.
We were highlighting an approved infusion medication called Sotrovimab and the report accidentally cut to a shot of Stromectol - a product which contains Ivermectin.
formerflanker
Ken Catchpole (46)
NSW Health has admitted to exaggerating the number of covid cases in hospital (i.e. falsifying data!)
“If you had Covid 3 weeks ago & recovered from that then fell off your bicycle & broke your arm and came to hospital, we would count that as a Covid admission…we’ve now reduced that back capture to 14 days.”
They are now reducing the amount of exaggeration.
And admitting no other state does it.
On the basis of those exaggerated figures, NSW has been locked down, restricted, and forcibly jabbed.
But let's all "Follow the science".
“If you had Covid 3 weeks ago & recovered from that then fell off your bicycle & broke your arm and came to hospital, we would count that as a Covid admission…we’ve now reduced that back capture to 14 days.”
They are now reducing the amount of exaggeration.
And admitting no other state does it.
On the basis of those exaggerated figures, NSW has been locked down, restricted, and forcibly jabbed.
But let's all "Follow the science".
formerflanker
Ken Catchpole (46)
Rob42
John Solomon (38)
That's no shock to anyone, the data has been treated the same way throughout the pandemic. It's not the reason NSW has been locked down or restricted, and I'm not sure who has been "forcibly jabbed". The restrictions have been about reducing the number of people killed by this virus, and balancing that with keeping people in their livelihoods.
formerflanker
Ken Catchpole (46)
Every single person who has been vaccinated against their wishes in order to keep their job.
NSW Health even uses the term "Mandatory Vaccination" in the Public Health Orders forcing health workers to get jabbed.