Holy shit, it seems to be working

"Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen" (distraxi)
04/08/2020 at 21:47 • Filed to: coronavirus, New Zealand

Two weeks into what’s described as “the strictest lockdown in the Western w orld”, an d for the fourth day running we have a decrease in new cases and recoveries are outpaci ng infections. P rovided the dickheads don’t decide this is the signal to start ignoring the rules, we’re in with a chance of comp letely stamping the fucker out in the next few wee ks, at the price of only a massively damaged as opposed to completely fucked economy.

Though we’ll need to have clos ed borders forever to keep it that way, so tourism’s a dead duck : the government just announced mandatory 14 day quarantine in government run facil ities for anyone entering t he country including our own nationals, for the foresee able future.

There are times when it’s ni c e to live in a tiny country miles f ro m anywhere .

DISCUSSION (19)

DipodomysDeserti > Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen
04/08/2020 at 23:00

Be careful. My state has tested 2k more people than your entire country and we’re still waiting for it to hit. Probably a lot easier to keep new cases out when you’re an island. No way we’d be able to fully lock out tourism and our GDP is about $50 billion more than NZ.

People look at the US numbers not realizing that even somewhat rural states are bigger than entire nations.

ranwhenparked > Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen
04/08/2020 at 23:19

And you’re not doing too badly overall, relatively speaking. My state is about 1/5 of your population, and we have almost the same number of confirmed cases and 19x the deaths, and the governor is expecting we will top out around 3,000 cases at the peak.

Of course, we’re a popular inexpensive retirement destination, and it has really whipped through a couple of nursing homes and high density retirement areas.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen
04/08/2020 at 23:20

I don’t, for even a second, believe those numbers not because I think there is active deception, but a lack of supplies to correctly test. We re losing more healthcare workers due to lack of supplies and healthy personnel on a daily basis. If that number is not corrected for those factors, then I can’t take that as anything more than a warning sign that we are flying blind and possibly acting under a false sense of security.

Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen > DipodomysDeserti
04/08/2020 at 23:32

Yes, it’s a hell of a lot easier when your border effectively consists of two airports. And when you’ve got a simple political structure which allows the government to act fast in an emergency and are small enough that they can execute effectively once they decide to. Referring back to our other conversation, I think the entire western world is demonstrating at the moment that there are disadvantages to democracy...

We’ve also been lucky in that we were a slow starter catching COVID so our government could see by example what happens if you don’t go hard and go early, while doing so was still an option available to them. Our cases are still largely linked to travel - there’s been very little community transmission identified. Which doesn’t mean there isn’t any, but there can’t be a huge amount or there’d be more of it showing up in hospitals by now.

Believe me, when you come from NZ you’re always very much aware that you’re a shitload smaller than anyone else. We even had a (joke) political party whose defence strategy was “make sure people keep forgetting to put us on maps”. Most of the time that’s a negative, but not always: now being a case in point. I generally describe us to Americans as “the population and economy of Wisconsin with the geography and political leanings of California”.

Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen > ranwhenparked
04/08/2020 at 23:34

We’ve largely kept it out of the elderly so far. By far our most affected demographic is 20-29 year olds. Which is partly the young/immortal/stupid effect, but mostly that most of our cases are travel linked and young Kiwis travel.

ranwhenparked > Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen
04/08/2020 at 23:36

That would certainly explain the 1 confirmed death so far

DipodomysDeserti > Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen
04/08/2020 at 23:48

“ I think the entire western world is demonstrating at the moment that there are disadvantages to democracy...”

What I fear is that we’re forgotten the risks aren’t worth the reward.

We’ve been forgetting that for the last 10k years.

Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen > DipodomysDeserti
04/08/2020 at 23:54

As always, Winston Churchill captured it pithily.

“ No-one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”

Grindintosecond > Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen
04/09/2020 at 00:04

People will act just like when taking antibiotics. “Rash is gone? I must be cured!” And they quit taking the pill....it comes back....cause they didn’t finish the kill.

Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen > Grindintosecond
04/09/2020 at 00:09

That’s pretty much what I’m expecting. And the cops are too - they’ve announced they’re deploying roadblocks for Africa on the main holiday highways this Easter.

wafflesnfalafel > Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen
04/09/2020 at 00:24

damn straight - it’s all hard

NKato > Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen
04/09/2020 at 01:32

Meanwhile, U.S. federal support for testing has ended. It's a blatant ploy to make numbers look like they're going down while setting us up for a nasty surge right before the election.

Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen > NKato
04/09/2020 at 01:39

Never mind, just suck down your chloroquine like a good little peasant and it will all go away.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen
04/09/2020 at 02:51

correction, the economy is definitely fucked

Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen > pip bip - choose Corrour
04/09/2020 at 02:58

Not as fucked as it would be if we were behaving like the US or Europe though. Except that you guys are, to some extent.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen
04/09/2020 at 02:59

we are buggered.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > pip bip - choose Corrour
04/09/2020 at 04:16

I much prefer our kind of buggered as opposed to the US, India and Indonesia kind of buggered...

oldmxer > Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen
04/09/2020 at 04:37

so, you’re saying there’s a chance

Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen > oldmxer
04/09/2020 at 04:48

Ask me again in a few weeks...