Three weeks ago, after quite a while without any cases of community transmission covid-19, three cases of the U.K. varient were revealed in Auckland, our biggest city and home to about 35% of our population. The patients were a mother, who worked at a laundry cleaning airline linen and uniforms, her husband and their daughter, a student at an Auckland high school with around 1000 pupils. (At the time the high school had been back in operation for less than a week after our summer break). The mother and daughter had shown symptoms at the same time, the daughter just a little earlier. The source of the transmission has not yet been determined.
Auckland went into a "level 3" (stay at home with some exceptions) lockdown for a week. The rest of the country was in level 2 (pretty normal life but with gatherings restricted to no more than 100 people and restirctions on dining etc) for 72 hours. Several other cases arose, all students at the same high school.
After a week Auckland, except for the staff and pupils at the high school, was allowed to return to level 2 for a week then back to level 1. Initially pupils were allowed back in class after returning a negative covid test, but when another family with a child at the same school came down with the same covid variant all pupils, staff and their families were required to isolate at home for 14 days, starting about a week ago.
Last Tuesday the older sibling of a pupil at the school began to show symtoms of covid. On Friday the sibling returned a positive test. It turns out that the sibling had not been isolating at home as required. In fact immediately after the covid test they went to the gym! This was also true for another family where several members tested positive earlier in the week.
The positive test result was returned yesterday afternoon and as of 6 am today (Sunday) Auckland is back in level 3 lockdown for at least a week. The rest of the country returning to level 2.
Because half of our town was without power today my brother and his wife took their two granddaughters just over an hour north of here to walk through a well known local park. While there they encounterred a family group of four adults and two children, the oldest being a girl of about 6, roughly the same age as my great nieces. This little girl told them that they had left Auckland very early this morning becaue "daddy did not want to be stuck at home during the lockdown"!
The parents were quick to hush the child and walk away. Utter stupidity.
As it turns out Karen and I had been in that same city for three days this week, attending the annual Americarna show, cars, food and all things American. We had spent a day travelling around with over 700 of the other cars in the event but had decided to skip most of the group events for the other two days. Most of the entrants had come down from Auckland.
I can only hope that there is no further outbreak and that the vaccine gets to us soon.
In the meantime I just have to accept that we can't legislate against stupidity. No matter how much I wish we could.
Auckland went into a "level 3" (stay at home with some exceptions) lockdown for a week. The rest of the country was in level 2 (pretty normal life but with gatherings restricted to no more than 100 people and restirctions on dining etc) for 72 hours. Several other cases arose, all students at the same high school.
After a week Auckland, except for the staff and pupils at the high school, was allowed to return to level 2 for a week then back to level 1. Initially pupils were allowed back in class after returning a negative covid test, but when another family with a child at the same school came down with the same covid variant all pupils, staff and their families were required to isolate at home for 14 days, starting about a week ago.
Last Tuesday the older sibling of a pupil at the school began to show symtoms of covid. On Friday the sibling returned a positive test. It turns out that the sibling had not been isolating at home as required. In fact immediately after the covid test they went to the gym! This was also true for another family where several members tested positive earlier in the week.
The positive test result was returned yesterday afternoon and as of 6 am today (Sunday) Auckland is back in level 3 lockdown for at least a week. The rest of the country returning to level 2.
Because half of our town was without power today my brother and his wife took their two granddaughters just over an hour north of here to walk through a well known local park. While there they encounterred a family group of four adults and two children, the oldest being a girl of about 6, roughly the same age as my great nieces. This little girl told them that they had left Auckland very early this morning becaue "daddy did not want to be stuck at home during the lockdown"!
The parents were quick to hush the child and walk away. Utter stupidity.
As it turns out Karen and I had been in that same city for three days this week, attending the annual Americarna show, cars, food and all things American. We had spent a day travelling around with over 700 of the other cars in the event but had decided to skip most of the group events for the other two days. Most of the entrants had come down from Auckland.
I can only hope that there is no further outbreak and that the vaccine gets to us soon.
In the meantime I just have to accept that we can't legislate against stupidity. No matter how much I wish we could.
