The criteria on which each of the three Covid traffic lights is based is clear.
At red:
Action needed to protect
health system – system
facing unsustainable
number of hospitalisations.
Action needed to protect
at-risk populations.
At orange:
Community transmission
with pressure on health
system.
Whole of health system
is focusing resources but
can manage – primary
care, public health, and
hospitals.
Increasing risk to at-risk
populations.
At green:
COVID-19 across New
Zealand, including sporadic
imported cases.
Limited community
transmission.
COVID-19 hospitalisations
are at a manageable level.
Whole of health system is
ready to respond – primary
care, public health, and
hospitals.
If the government was following the criteria it set most, if not all, the country would be at green but the government has deviated from its own system with several areas of the North Island stuck in red and the rest of us in orange.
I understand the reasoning – the government is worrying that once people are free to travel outside the red zones they’ll take Covid with them.
But if that’s the case, why will Aucklanders who are are red at home being permitted to travel to places that are at orange?:
We are one of, if not, the most vaccinated city in the world, hospitalisation and case numbers are dropping, the boundary is opening and we’ve got armour plating from free, rapid antigen testing, scanning, vaccine passports and social distancing, but still Auckland is left in the red until the end of the year to suffer a summer of pain.
“It does not make sense. It is safe for Aucklanders to leave the city from Wednesday and move from red to orange but unsafe for the city to shift to orange,” says Auckland Business Chamber CEO Michael Barnett. “We’ve done everything we can yet we’re stuck at a restrictive red light while modellers promote wild extremes of forecasts and count the days of an infection cycle.
“Small businesses, especially those in hospitality, accommodation and tourism, don’t deserve this,” he said. “And while we wait for the lights to change and wonder at the logic, Auckland will become a ghost town. Money and patronage needed to save local businesses, repay debt and recoup losses, will disappear into the regions.”
And why is Northland going to be staying at red when other areas, including the East Coast which also has a low vaccinate rate, move to orange on December 30th?
The government’s use of its own traffic light system doesn’t make sense.
The Government should move Auckland to “Orange” in the traffic light system immediately, rather than waiting another two and a half weeks until 30 December, National Leader Christopher Luxon says.
“The Government is simply not following its own criteria.
“By the Government’s own admission, the “Red” stage should be used when our healthcare system is overwhelmed and we’re facing unsustainable levels of hospitalisations – neither of which are happening.
“The Prime Minister spent a long time in her press conference outlining how the outbreak is under control. There are just 61 cases in hospital, with only four in ICU. The case numbers are fewer than the modelling suggests. The “R rate” is now below 1. New Zealand is just 48,000 doses shy of 90 per cent of the eligible population being vaccinated. Auckland is one of the most vaccinated places in the world.
“All of these signs indicate Auckland should be in “Orange”, not “Red”, right now.
“The traffic light setting makes a huge difference to the economic viability of small businesses, including hospitality. Many of those businesses will be beyond frustrated at being given a glimpse of further freedoms but having to wait another 17 days, despite being at their peak summer trading period.
“Today was yet another announcement of a future announcement.
“The Government should also drop the idea of continuing to enforce the Auckland border over summer. It simply doesn’t make sense to delay Aucklanders for hours in their cars to check whether they’re vaccinated or have had a recent rapid antigen test. The costs of doing this simply outweigh the marginal benefits of doing so.
“Around 600 police officers will be involved in manning the Auckland border over summer or working in MIQ. Every police officer on the Auckland border is a police officer pulled away from tackling real crime around the country.
“The traffic light framework will only enjoy public confidence and support if the decisions made under it make sense. The Government simply aren’t following their own criteria, which will leave many New Zealanders wondering what the purpose of the criteria even is.”
If the government isn’t following its own rules, how can it expect us to?
The criteria is clear but the government’s interpretation of it is not.
We’re all paying for that with a loss of freedom; some are paying a lot more with a loss of businesses and jobs and the government’s eroding its own social licence by creating chaos and confusion.
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