Heather du Plessis-Allan: Covid 19 closures are a sign of failure

OPINION:

The government narrative that it is okay for Auckland to close twice in a fortnight because other countries are making it harder is utter nonsense.

We will always tell ourselves that another lockdown is fine if we keep comparing ourselves to the worst countries affected by Covid, especially the UK and the US, because seven days seems insignificant compared to the months and months that are passing in the UK. United.

But what about all the places that fight Covid without getting in and out of lockdowns? What about all the places that haven’t even had a single crash?

We have talked about Taiwan ad nauseam. Not a single confinement there, and only nine deaths. In comparison, we have had 26 deaths and several lockdowns.

What about New South Wales, which is increasingly seen as an example of how to combat Covid? They haven’t had a single lockdown across the state or across Sydney during this entire pandemic. Meanwhile, Auckland has had four lockouts, which will be a total of 11 weeks, or nearly three months, at the end of this week.

Sydney, the largest city in New South Wales, hasn’t had a single week with the whole place locked up. New South Wales has had 54 deaths, which is not bad for a population of around 8 million.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s response is nuanced. They block out suburbs and hotspots, so if there is a blast on the northern beaches, the restrictions are limited to the area, not the entire state, or even the entire city. Compare that to New Zealand, where Invercargill is at level 2 right now.

NSW is actively trying to avoid blockades. They have a great contact tracing system so they can isolate sick people, rather than lock up everyone.
And the last time I checked that approximately 40 days went by without a community case.

We invite you to continue comparing ourselves with the countries of the northern hemisphere that are in the middle of winter to see how well we are doing, because we will always be better than the worst in the world.

Or you can compare us to NSW, on the other side of the ditch, to see how much better we could be doing.

Let’s stop being grateful for the confinements. They are not a sign of success. They are a sign that things are getting too difficult for the government to handle.