Thread by @FreedomFriesInc

(1) Thread: Latest updates on the Covid situation in New Zealand, 18 August 2021.

The PM's daily briefing will start soon.

Link to coverage: nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-co…

(2) IMO the NZ government has not done enough to prepare for this emergency and crucially, they are deliberately downplaying the role of vaccination in saving lives. More on that issue below.

We all knew yesterday there'd be more than 1 case. About 5 identified so far:

(3) I've said on Twitter since the start that NZ wasn't getting jabs in arms fast enough. Absolutely it was possible to get to a higher vax rate than we have today.

And they are still missing the point about which age groups are now at greatest risk.

(4) Onlookers around the world seem convinced that NZ has an excellent Covid strategy, and excellent results that are due to that strategy.

This is a complete fabrication and if you believe it then you haven't been skeptical enough about what you read in the media.

(5) NZ's success at eradicating several small earlier-variant outbreaks of Covid was due to the medically easier nature of the challenge, our low population (5 M) our relative geographic isolation, & our culture of apathy and general compliance.

The Delta variant changed that.

(6) The center-left NZ government is using a response strategy now that became outdated as early as March this year. They had 5 months to adjust course, and they didn't.

We all saw what happened in India, where families had to find an O2 canister on the black market for $1,000.

(7) We then watched as Delta ravaged the UK, a country with which Kiwis have very close bonds.

By the time the deep south of the USA started experiencing #HospitalSystemCollapse we knew it would be inevitable in NZ, too.

(8) One of several unsurprising and serious revelations being shared as we speak.

NSW is the hardest hit state in AU atm. It was always going to be the most likely source of Delta in NZ.

We are united with our #auspol cousins btw. ANZAC forever.

(9) This too, is a very serious piece of information.

Halting all Covid vaccinations for 48 hrs was completely unnecessary and is harmful not only to people with those appointments, but to the country as a whole.

Gov NOT listening to medical experts.

nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-co…

(10) *Breathe, HW. Breathe.*

My sense of #SurvivorGuilt has already started. Even though I in no way contributed to this preventable disaster. That's usually the case with survivor guilt.

When I worked in gov't, this would never have been allowed to happen.

(11) BTW, NZ has not escaped the phenomenon of anti-vaxxers and their ilk endangering everyone else with their insanity.

I wish our police would be given adequate PPE. We're going to lose some of them to Covid if that isn't addressed.

nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-co…

(11) This NZHerald infographic tells a worrying story when you read between the lines.

The vax rate is (I assume) presented as a percentage of the eligible population, not the population as a whole.

I last checked the data 8 days ago. If it's correct, then...

(12) Both the 1 dose & 2 dose rates have increased, but the 2 dose rate increased more.

That's the opposite of what should've happened.

In India they switched to trying to get at least one dose into as many arms as possible.

I wonder how long that will take to change here.

(13) I am lucky that I have diabetes & was eligible to be fully vaccinated earlier on. That's to keep me out of a scarce hospital bed, probably saving several lives.

But all kinds of less justified cases have seen some people vaccinated before others who needed it more.

(14) Here is the best place to find accurate up to date data on Covid in NZ. health.govt.nz/our-work/disea…

I get the vaccine uptake data from: health.govt.nz/our-work/disea…

(15) NZ gov says 88% of Auckland District Health Board staff are vaccinated.

12% of them obv. made use of the laws in this country that allow the RN at your hospital bedside to keep his or her job, & not be forced to tell you.

This fact alone will account for many deaths.

(16) Can you imagine for a moment how galling it must be for the 88% of hospital staff in NZ's hardest hit by covid district to have to work alongside willfully unvaccinated staff who aren't legally compelled to disclose their recklessless to them or immuno-compromised patients?

(17) I will do my best to survive this pandemic but if I don't, please use my tweets as part of the effort to hold accountable the reckless, self-interested government politicians who allowed this disaster to hit New Zealand.

Me, 9 days ago:

https://twitter.com/FreedomFriesInc/status/1424624684616744963

(18) To clarify, on 9 August I spoke of the Covid cases among port workers in Tauranga (near the current Covid epicenters of Auckland and the Coromandel district.)

NZ was still within the 14 day incubation period from that outbreak when the new one made headlines yesterday.

(19) Based on current public info the Tauranga and Auckland outbreaks are not linked.

But the concerns I raised on 9 August all still apply now.

Full credit to the workers helping in this response. I blame the politicians with a duty of care to the country, not the workers.