Occasionally I remind ppl much of the COVID-19 "lab leak" story from the USA is political theatre.

This from the (Republican-led) Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic⬇️

“Explosive”, “Get your popcorn ready folks...” is not the language of committees or investigation. They then go on to name senior people, throwing accusations on them. The sort of accusations you see on the sillier parts of the internet.

Again, not the actions or language of a committee or investigation.

I love travel, but this sort of lack of control – personal or organised – is why I can’t imagine travelling anytime soon😞

The history of pandemics is a history of diseases moving with people, and what preventative measures people did or did not take.

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https://twitter.com/ProfPaulYoung/status/1548899268500627459

Wearing a mask😷 isn’t much of a hassle😊
It’s a trifle, really, given the reduction in risk they bring for everyone (not just you).
Masks work best if everyone masks, lowering spread from each person, and reducing entry into each person. It’s about stacking up protections
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Please wear masks😊
Physical distancing helps, but aerosol spread is big part of it too.
Aerosols waft, "floating" in the air.
That’s why ventilation and filters help.
Masks reduce spreading diseased aerosol in shared spaces – indoors or close to others outdoors.
More⬇️ Isolate if you’re infectious (= positive RAT test or have symptoms). You never know who your infection will spread to. In the end it’ll reach someone whose body can’t easily cope with it. And even “milder” cases cause long-COVID, an ugly thing to have.
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#4pmBriefing. Ardern, Robertson and Bloomfield.
(Short take as I'm starting late.)

First Ardern on Omicron.
No cases in NZ.
9 countries named as very high risk. Only NZ citizens travel direct from these, go to MIQ on arrival and take 5 tests over this time.

1/n Research still working on what impact this variant will have yet. Existing system to manage this.

Booster start to be available today.

Move to COVID Protection Framework this week. Will not be lifting all restrictions as some countries have.

2/n

#1pmBriefing, case numbers:

144 new cases today (Auckland 127, Northland 2, Waikato 9, Bay of Plenty 4, Hawke’s Bay 1)
7-day rolling average of cases: 182

82 people in hospital (5⬆️ from yesterday), 9 in HDU/ICU (1⬆️ from yesterday)

>20,000 vaccine doses given yesterday.

1/n Canterbury: yesterday’s case is a child isolating at home in a family who recently returned, and now considered a border case.
Northland: 2 new cases to be added tomorrow.
No new cases today in Wairarapa, Wellington, MidCentral, Lakes or Taranaki.

One more person has died😔

2/n

Hipkins has announced #NZ has moved 9 African nations to the ‘very high risk’ list, meaning non-citizens from these countries cannot enter directly, and NZ citizens travelling from them will have to take 14 MIQ on entry to NZ (not the new shorter process). These countries are: South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Seychelles, Malawi and Mozambique.

#1pmBriefing, case update:

145 new COVID-19 cases. (Auckland: 127, Waikato: 13, Bay of Plenty: 4, Canterbury: 1, from yesterday)
7-day rolling average number of cases: 183

77 hospital inpatients (1⬇️ from yesterday)
8 in HDU/ICU (1⬆️ from yesterday; 1 in Lakes district)

1/n The MoH have a brief note about the new Omicron variant. I have written about this yesterday (sciblogs.co.nz/code-for-life/…) and am working on an update.

I hope this variant is a reminder to please get vaccinated if you haven’t yet.

2/n

The request to retract the paper describing an approach to use PCR to detect SARS-CoV-2 (the virus causing COVID-19) has been denied.

It was never likely to be valid.

A few loose thoughts⬇️

https://twitter.com/MarionKoopmans/status/1357378486386782209

The paper presents a method to test for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

You can think of it as resolving a catch-22. How can a country test for SARS-CoV-2 before they have samples or cases?

There were some genome sequences. (Yay genome sequences!)

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#NZ PM's press announcement: "go hard, go early".

ALL travellers coming into NZ will be requited to self-isolate for 14 days. Some exceptions for the Pacific nations.

#COVID19 #NZ PM's press announcement (2):

Restrictions start midnight tonight.

*Don't* make a run on the supermarkets.

(I will had personal comments/thoughts later. Just transcription for now.)

#COVID19