Siouxsie Wiles • Aug 04, 2020 •
Siouxsie Wiles The restrictions in place for metropolitan Melbourne now are in some ways stricter than those that were in force during New Zealand’s COVID-19 lockdown. A curfew is in place and most people have to wear masks when they leave their home – neither of which happened in New Zealand. But the state of Victoria has lost valuable … Read More
Siouxsie Wiles • Aug 01, 2020 •
Over the last few days, reports have emerged of people travelling from New Zealand and testing positive for Covid-19 upon arrival at their destination. First in South Korea and now in Australia. What might these positive tests mean? They’re false-positives As Toby Morris and I have explained before, there are different ways to test someone for Covid-19. The main ways … Read More
Guest Author • Jul 24, 2020 •
Dave Heatley New Zealand’s COVID Tracer app is “on track to achieve nothing”, according to Sam Morgan. The numbers support him: only one in six of those eligible to download and register the app has done so, and each app user has scanned just 2.5 QR codes since the app debuted in … Read More
Guest Author • Jul 17, 2020 •
Michael Plank, University of Canterbury; Alex James, University of Canterbury; Audrey Lustig, Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research; Nicholas Steyn; Rachelle Binny, Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research, and Shaun Hendy Stringent border controls and mandatory quarantine give New Zealand a good chance to remain free of COVID-19 for months to come, according to our latest modelling. It’s been 76 … Read More
Public Health Expert • Jul 10, 2020 •
Prof Nick Wilson, Dr Anja Mizdrak, Dr Jennifer Summers, Prof Michael Baker The pandemic-related lockdown is possibly the most dramatic public health intervention in NZ history. It helped achieve the elimination of community transmission of the COVID-19 virus in NZ. But it was also associated with 548 fewer total deaths than for the same period in 2019. Death rates … Read More
Guest Author • Jul 04, 2020 •
Dave Heatley Zero community transmission. Just a handful of active cases, all in quarantine. New Zealand is in an attractive situation, at least compared to much of the world. The situation could be robust and enduring – or it might be fragile, just one border incursion away from a “second wave”. How would we tell? COVID-19 just keeps changing and … Read More
Guest Author • Jul 03, 2020 •
Nik Green Much of the public debate about the response to the COVID-19 pandemic has focused on the extent to which government regulations have restricted personal and business activity. Oxford University Blavatnik School of Government Here in New Zealand, the question of when to change Alert Levels dominated the media and Parliament, with some arguing that the highly-restrictive … Read More
Guest Author • Jun 11, 2020 •
Alert level 1! Like you no doubt, I am breathing a sigh of relief. But no one can guarantee that New Zealand has seen its last case of COVID-19. Canberra has just seen its first new case after more than a month without one. A diplomat returning from overseas drove (as he was allowed to) from … Read More
Robert Hickson • Jun 07, 2020 •
The World Economic Forum has launched a new initiative that they are calling “The Great Reset”. Its purpose is to help “guide decision-makers on the path to a more resilient, sustainable world beyond coronavirus” At first glance it can look like virtue signalling by some of the world’s elite. The WEF’s … Read More
Robert Hickson • May 17, 2020 •
In a previous post I noted that futures thinking usually tries to identify what people think will change and what they think needs to change. As lockdown constraints ease, we are seeing a lot of opinions about both. There is no shortage of shovel ready points of view and aspirations. Aspirations … Read More