PM Ardern: NZ should attempt to keep Covid out of the country indefinitely | Hacker News Reader

PM Ardern: NZ should attempt to keep Covid out of the country indefinitely

theaustralian.com.au

10 pointsAndrewBissell16 comments

I am curious how this will work long term, as we are nowhere near controlling COVID on a global scale and even well resourced countries in the West or very disciplined/authoritarian countries are struggling.

I feel like this is clearly not going to work without basically 14 day latency to all in and out travel which seems... impossible to sustain.

If any society is in a position to afford that policy, it is New Zealand. Remote island, wealthy so they can afford some hit to their economy (even with how important tourism and exports are there). The public seems to have no desire to go through COVID-19, so the political will may be there.

Exports proceeding more or less normal (as long as receiving end not in covid chaos). Tourism is probably ended, maybe role for long term travellers as walkers, cyclists spend the most money

Something like 90% of tourism here is by locals. Net new dollars are good, but not super important.

That said it's pretty annoying not being able to leave or get your family for support. Then there's thousands of people stuck with their work visas, basically enslaved to their current employers with no shine of light of getting residency completed. Let's not even begin discussing property market...

How do you know so much about NZ? I'm sure all of kiwis are cheering this because everyone is so wealthy and does not at all have their livelihood affected.

I've been imagining a world where a whole bunch of countries actually do this. What does it really change? Mostly less tourism, I think. That would hit certain tourism-dependent countries pretty hard.

On the other hand there'd probably be a lot less air travel, which is good.

But think about how many people are able to work remotely now. What if the quarantine hotel had great internet access, so you spent your quarantine period working remotely, then went off and did tourist things and had your vacation proper?

I think the trickiest part would be how to handle all the people who do the people- and stuff-moving -- the airplane and ship crews, specifically.

There is a long list of diseases that have been bought under control in the west. Take a look at the Global Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. Most of the health goals related to diseases are not diseases you see in the west. But the numbers outstrip covid.

Brought under control is NOT Covid Zero

I see this a bit like psy-ops. Get everyone vaccinated as much as possible which probably going to slow down at around 80%. Then start reopening border and fuck those who didn't bother vaccinating. Otherwise remaining 20% is going to take years.

This won't happen. NZ keeping Covid out is down to good luck, not competence. On a long enough time scale NZ will face the same fate as those across the ditch.

That seems overly dismissive. NZ could have been run by a bunch of jackasses like so many other states/nations have been who did nothing but politicize and posture. Sure its an advantage to be on an island but it's one which is easily squandered through negligence - and it wasn't.

I'd say the biggest advantage we had was being too small for Fox News to broadcast here

Just yesterday at the largest port in the country: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/448887/minister-for-covi...

It's only a matter of time.

We do have some jackasses, fortunately they aren't in power, but they are actively sowing division and racism -National Party. If they'd been in we'd look like UK, Belgium, Louisiana as I'm sure they would have weaponis do it against minorities and Maori.

Quite different demographics here (I live in Otago, southern NZ) many, many people understand enough biology to know to be aware (life sciences is 80% of our economy). Also we have per capita < idiots and selfishness here.

We have to keep covid / Delta out, would collapse health system and kill tens of thousands (especially Polynesians).

Good time to move away from tourism income, helping us bridge to low-carbon, 21st C fit state.

It being an infeasible plan is just a bonus. A permanent emergency means permanent emergency powers.

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