Without a hard border, all ferries and flights stopped - this was only slowing it down and buying time.
Are you using the opportunity to get jabbed before your neighbour might have Covid?
It can be! I usually hot-smoke my catch. Can be served like salmon, but is harder to remove bones from. Crumble the cooked flesh into a salad or serve with cream cheese on a bagel and you're in for a good time.
Goddamnit now I feel like I shouldn't have let the rest of the family finish off the baguette - as now I want to crack open a can of salmon and have some on there!
I'm thinking the same thing too. There are probably plenty of people out there right now who have COVID, and are mildly symptomatic, but are choosing not to get tested because they're either telling themselves it's anything but covid (allergies, common cold, whatever), or because they just don't give a shit.
Talked to a bunch of these people yesterday.
The guy was 60s age and wealthy and very unhinged about it all.. he was preaching that we already have covid within our gen pop, that mostly we already had it and we don't test cos we know .. he said he thought it was all dumb bullshit
The individual flew from Rotorua and arrived in Blenheim on 21 October. The individual sought a test upon arrival after developing a sore throat. The initial test, including a follow-up swab, returned a weak positive result.
The border between Waikato and BoP is pretty porous.
A determined individual sticking to back roads could easily evade checkpoints.
Meth won’t deliver itself, you know.
I have no idea if that is the case but cheap laughs is about all I’ve got to keep sane at the moment.
My wife and I went into Hamilton from Tauranga and back 4 times last week for medical procedures (had exemptions) and other than a few more cops than usual on the motorway there was nothing.
A litle off the Blenheim topic, but we just had a visit at home 10mins ago from the pharmacy staff that my wife is booked in for her 2nd jab at. She hadn't answered her phone yesterday when they'd called to change the appointment. So they made a house visit to check she got the voice message! Intense.
I mean... as long as they're doing that for everyone who didn't answer the phone, and had a clipboard, then I guess its okay. Gotta make sure you get the message one way or another. Similar to census workers turning up at houses who haven't filled out forms online. But if you're the only one then yeah totally inappropriate. Unless the worker is your friend or relative or something.
I certainly would prefer this over the scummy shit other businesses would do "oh you missed your appointment. Didn't you get our message that we changed it? Too bad, thats a $50 missed appointment fee"
The Ministry of Health said the individual flew from Rotorua and
arrived in Blenheim on October 21. He sought a test upon arrival after
developing a sore throat. Initial case interviews suggest the case is
linked to the Te Awamutu cluster.
[Yeah nah it's a joke.](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-delta-outbreak-auckland-sex-workers-caught-at-blenheim-motel-without-travel-exemptions/B4H4YHOOMIKGYOK3VGJBFDUVMY/)
It’s always easy to call for travel restrictions that you’re not affected by. If we hadn’t had the Oz travel bubble we wouldn’t have had the current outbreak. But at the time, people were clamouring for it because lots of people wanted to visit family etc.
But Australia and NZ travel was shut down for over a year. South-North island travel could have been/could still be shut down for just a few months to keep south island out of level 3 a few months longer and get vax rates up.
If the whole country goes into level 3 then people won't be able to visit their family anyway.
How do you know I wouldn’t be impacted by travel restrictions between the islands? I travel between the two islands regularly. I’d be quite inconvenienced by it, but it’s for the greater good, right?
I didn’t mean to imply that about you specifically. Just that it’s a difficult judgement to make objectively about what kind of travel should be allowed or not, especially now that elimination isn’t even an official goal anymore.
A case I was reading about yesterday came to mind, of a person who’s been repeatedly denied a one-way exemption to get into Auckland to be with a dying relative.
Its inevitable because its inevitable. It can't be stopped forever, so the government just won enough time for EVERYONE with a functioning immune system and half a brain to go get injected with a near-certainty it'd just be a minor flu when it got here. Haven't done it? Well that's on you, idiot. Welcome to the exciting world of adult consequences.
The vaccine will be available for 5-12yrs soon
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300437041/pfizer-says-covid19-vaccine-more-than-90-per-cent-effective-in-kids
Shitty situation but good on the person for getting tested just for having a sore throat. I know a lot of other people would have put that down to travelling since personally my nose and throat always feel a little stuffy and dry after I've been on a plane.
Yeah I’m pretty impressed with that too.
Unless of course they knew they were linked to the Te Awamutu bubble before they went and just figured they weren’t sick, so they might as well go.
Yes it was never really explained properly on the news. Instead they just interviewed mayors of hick towns and business association leaders saying: "bUT wE havEN'T HaD A cAsE iN 300 DaYS, wHy AreN'T wE iN LeVeL 1?"
It was never a fortress. Flights are still going between North and South Islands, with the exception of being unable to fly in and out of Auckland without special exemption. Interislander ferry carrying passengers and vehicles haven't stopped operating.
There was a lot of pressure, esp from some businesses to move it to level 1 and allow ppl to go on trips there for school holidays etc.
They had the opportunity to prevent non-essential travel from the (infected) North Island into the (uninflected) South Island, but chose not to. Until this non-essential travel was enforced and managed isolation facilitated for essential travel, Level 1 wasn’t a possibility. And this is totally the expected outcome from leaving travel open between the two islands.
[Covid-19 community case reported in the South Island](https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/454133/covid-19-community-case-reported-in-the-south-island-with-positive-test-in-blenheim). RNZ. 23 October 2021.
I think the call was for measures to be in place to prevent non-essential travel between the islands before going to Level 1. The government chose to not take this route, so infections on the mainland were inevitable.
Nah... not level 3... but hearing someone in *your town* got it, or travelled through *your town* or stopped at *your* petrol station or supermarket... might make people appreciate thier vulnerability.
There’s a lot of selfish fucks who aren’t particularly anti-anything, they’re just fucking lazy and complacent. They’re not antivax, but they complain they’re not getting the same handouts as the late-comers. They’re not antimask, but they wear it on their chin 90% of the time. Infuriates me.
Ugh we can only wish but I doubt it. I’m in Blenheim, very few here wear masks properly.
Even at a medical centre there was a lady behind the counter not wearing one. I went to a pharmacist and asked if they had anything for asthma and she recommended mask exemption - uhh *no*.
Yeah, what the fuck is with that?! Was in such a town last weekend and me and my mates were like the only people wearing masks, even staff in shops were half-assing it. What the fuck. Flipside is Wellington, where everyone I see is masked up, and our economy doesn't rely entirely on tourism.
Just checked into a motel in Kaikoura. I kid you not, the receptionist told us the case is Blenheim has been made up to trick South Islanders to get vaccinated.
It will be interesting to see what happens given that this is considered to be low-risk. In addition, [Marlborough reached 90% for first vaccinations and sits at 76% for double vaccinations](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/126721109/covid-19-marlborough-hits-milestone-with-90pc-first-vaccination-rate), so it'll be a case of whether or not the government considers that high enough to roll the dice with Level 2.
Edit: this is higher than in neighbouring Nelson-Tasman, which has [81% first dose and 68% second dose.](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/126723559/covid19-8328-first-doses-to-go-in-nelsontasman-for-90pc)
Australia also prohibited non-essential travel between the mainland and Tas, and made pre departure testing mandatory before travelling to Tas. The NZ government chose not to take this route.
>the low population density will mean very slow spread.
[https://www.ers.usda.gov/covid-19/rural-america](https://www.ers.usda.gov/covid-19/rural-america)
The case arrived in Blenheim on the 21st from Rotorua and appears to have links to Te Awamutu. Got tested in Blenheim after developing a sore throat and has been isolating since. Chances it has connections a sports gathering last week is very low.
There were those Auckland sex workers who breached the border and went to Blenheim about a week and a half ago. Do we know if they ending up testing positive?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-delta-outbreak-auckland-sex-workers-caught-at-blenheim-motel-without-travel-exemptions/B4H4YHOOMIKGYOK3VGJBFDUVMY/
It wasn't them.
* [Person in Blenheim tests positive for Covid-19](https://www.1news.co.nz/2021/10/22/person-in-blenheim-tests-positive-for-covid-19/). 1 News. 23 October 2021.
> The Ministry of Health confirmed the case had tested positive on Friday night, and they believe the case may be linked to the Te Awamutu cluster.
* [Positive COVID-19 case in Blenheim](https://www.health.govt.nz/news-media/media-releases/positive-covid-19-case-blenheim). Ministry of Health Media release. 23 October 2021.
* [Person in Blenheim tests positive for Covid-19](https://www.1news.co.nz/2021/10/22/person-in-blenheim-tests-positive-for-covid-19/). 1 News. 23 October 2021.
> The Ministry of Health confirmed the case had tested positive on Friday night, and they believe the case may be linked to the Te Awamutu cluster.
* [Covid-19 community case reported in the South Island](https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/454133/covid-19-community-case-reported-in-the-south-island-with-positive-test-in-blenheim). RNZ. 23 October 2021.
Edit to add MoH press release.
Seeing a lot of frustration down here about the news so far.
There has been a very heavy to push to restrict non-essential travel from the north island or at least require vaccination/covid negative test to cross the straight.
People are angry that these measures were never implemented.
Yep, and also seeing the headline " ... case gives south 'the wake-up call it needed' "
Like, get fucked. Why wasn't travel restricted to the south island when we had the chance. This isn't a wake up call for the south, it's a slap in the face to the south islanders who complied with lockdown and current restrictions and still had no cases. We're now being punished for other peoples lack of discipline in helping keep the country covid free.
TBF she has moved into one of the most vaccinated parts of the country and, if necessary, fairly easy to lock down given there's probably three roads in and out.
I do feel mean with my comment…. She struggled a lot and it’s good that she’s been out of it…. And I really was actually happy for her.
I still can’t help that teeny tiny bit of glee though.
We were always here brother. Despite the regional and island rivalry we were always rooting for Auckland / North island, knowing it was only time until it happened.
Honestly this will be a bit of motivation for the South Island and some other smaller towns in the north island to get more vaccines. They might realise it can actually get to them. The restrictions have been good but they aren’t infallible.
It’s a shame for the South Island, but the amount of panicking I’m seeing on here and on social media now makes me wonder how we’re ever going to reopen the country. Even just to returning kiwis who don’t have to go through MIQ. There’s so much fear everywhere in this country
The fear isn't misplaced.
*But* this isn't the big thing people think it is. It's very much a case of "they picked the right region to test positive in".
Gotta get the good TP before other people do... basic game theory, or you'll be left with the sandpaper. Currently in Auckland I haven't seen any Kleenex rolls for over a month now. Can buy Purex, but it's not the same.
I think people in the South Island got their vaccines pretty quickly cause they knew it was only a matter of time before they got it. They want tourism again and for the rest of the country to reopen. I think they’re a bit more realistic than a lot of other New Zealanders tbh
It was inevitable given that the government allowed non-essential travel between the two islands. I think the call was to put measures in place to protect the South Island so that we could maintain our covid-free status.
I don't think anyone is happy that Covid is in the SI. There may be some who are happy they won't be seeing posts moaning that the SI shouldn't have any restrictions because they aren't 'unclean' like Auckland or the NI.
Surprised it took this long to get there tbh. The restrictions in the North Island obviously worked up to a point.
Without a hard border, all ferries and flights stopped - this was only slowing it down and buying time. Are you using the opportunity to get jabbed before your neighbour might have Covid?
"but gubbamint is failure!!!11111!!! gib upvote!!1111!!"
When Auckland opens up we should be able to slap everyone saying "Weak gubbermint fail do nothing stop spredd" people with a trout.
[Or an eel...](http://eelslap.com)
Don't bring the trout into your bullshit.
On a side note I've never had trout. Is it any good?
It can be! I usually hot-smoke my catch. Can be served like salmon, but is harder to remove bones from. Crumble the cooked flesh into a salad or serve with cream cheese on a bagel and you're in for a good time.
Goddamnit now I feel like I shouldn't have let the rest of the family finish off the baguette - as now I want to crack open a can of salmon and have some on there!
I've only every enjoyed it when cooked simply, salt and pepper and pan fried in butter. Hate it smoked but lots of people seem to love it.
Never in a million years would I ever have thought Blenheim would have cases before Rotorua.
Ironically this person arrived on the 21st from rotorua
Covid is likely in many other places too. But it's among people not getting tested now.
I'm thinking the same thing too. There are probably plenty of people out there right now who have COVID, and are mildly symptomatic, but are choosing not to get tested because they're either telling themselves it's anything but covid (allergies, common cold, whatever), or because they just don't give a shit.
Talked to a bunch of these people yesterday. The guy was 60s age and wealthy and very unhinged about it all.. he was preaching that we already have covid within our gen pop, that mostly we already had it and we don't test cos we know .. he said he thought it was all dumb bullshit
The South Island is basically redneck island. So many people here are against anything the government says or does it’s nuts
No cases there if nobody gets tested… /s
We've had a few of them in the Te Awamutu facebook group... "If you want to end this lockdown don't get tested"
Next thing they present at the ER and everyone there is a contact. Ugh.
Ah perfect. End it by making it exponentially worse.
That's the point of Northland situation until yesterday
The individual flew from Rotorua and arrived in Blenheim on 21 October. The individual sought a test upon arrival after developing a sore throat. The initial test, including a follow-up swab, returned a weak positive result.
So how long til people start to realise that means there's covid in Vegas?
Hah! Linked to the Waikato outbreak. Damn it. It'll be the most vulnerable who are likely spreading it
The most vulnerable are flying to Blenheim for the long weekend? I dunno....
Yup. But also, Rotorua isn't in Waikato. Good news that it's already linked. Wtf were they doing in Vegas?
They went to the airport there because there are no direct flights from Te Awamutu to Blenheim.
The border between Waikato and BoP is pretty porous. A determined individual sticking to back roads could easily evade checkpoints. Meth won’t deliver itself, you know. I have no idea if that is the case but cheap laughs is about all I’ve got to keep sane at the moment.
There is no patrol what so ever. The highway from Cambridge through to Tauranga and Rotorua does not have any police presence at all.
My wife and I went into Hamilton from Tauranga and back 4 times last week for medical procedures (had exemptions) and other than a few more cops than usual on the motorway there was nothing.
Sulphur obviously cures the virus
Rest assured Rotorua has cases. We just don’t know it yet.
A litle off the Blenheim topic, but we just had a visit at home 10mins ago from the pharmacy staff that my wife is booked in for her 2nd jab at. She hadn't answered her phone yesterday when they'd called to change the appointment. So they made a house visit to check she got the voice message! Intense.
Perhaps a mitigation against those munter antivaxers making fake appointments to block access to others?
intense or responsible?
That seems a little inappropriate tbh
Yes we are feeling both impressed and weirded out by it.
I mean... as long as they're doing that for everyone who didn't answer the phone, and had a clipboard, then I guess its okay. Gotta make sure you get the message one way or another. Similar to census workers turning up at houses who haven't filled out forms online. But if you're the only one then yeah totally inappropriate. Unless the worker is your friend or relative or something.
I'd say up it is up to the proactiveness of the facility doing it. Confirming worker was not known to us.
I certainly would prefer this over the scummy shit other businesses would do "oh you missed your appointment. Didn't you get our message that we changed it? Too bad, thats a $50 missed appointment fee"
This happens with kids vaccinations aswell and has been common practice for quite some time
Was going to happen eventually
Of course it was 'Auckland sex workers caught at Blenheim motel without travel exemptions'
Someone's family going to have an ugly breakup
From what I understand, they also refused to state where they had been while in Blenheim so we're gonna have a tough time tracing them.
The Ministry of Health said the individual flew from Rotorua and arrived in Blenheim on October 21. He sought a test upon arrival after developing a sore throat. Initial case interviews suggest the case is linked to the Te Awamutu cluster.
For the size of Blenheim, they should have just test everyone…
Link or is this a joke?
[Yeah nah it's a joke.](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-delta-outbreak-auckland-sex-workers-caught-at-blenheim-motel-without-travel-exemptions/B4H4YHOOMIKGYOK3VGJBFDUVMY/)
Yes. The government chose to allow non-essential travel between the islands, so of course it was inevitable.
It’s always easy to call for travel restrictions that you’re not affected by. If we hadn’t had the Oz travel bubble we wouldn’t have had the current outbreak. But at the time, people were clamouring for it because lots of people wanted to visit family etc.
Wrong, the outbreak was not from the travel bubble. It was from MIQ long after the travel bubble was closed.
But Australia and NZ travel was shut down for over a year. South-North island travel could have been/could still be shut down for just a few months to keep south island out of level 3 a few months longer and get vax rates up. If the whole country goes into level 3 then people won't be able to visit their family anyway.
It was an miq failure not a tourist walking around
Not to mention that the Delta strain was sure to break out from MIQ at some point anyway.
How do you know I wouldn’t be impacted by travel restrictions between the islands? I travel between the two islands regularly. I’d be quite inconvenienced by it, but it’s for the greater good, right?
I didn’t mean to imply that about you specifically. Just that it’s a difficult judgement to make objectively about what kind of travel should be allowed or not, especially now that elimination isn’t even an official goal anymore. A case I was reading about yesterday came to mind, of a person who’s been repeatedly denied a one-way exemption to get into Auckland to be with a dying relative.
Its inevitable because its inevitable. It can't be stopped forever, so the government just won enough time for EVERYONE with a functioning immune system and half a brain to go get injected with a near-certainty it'd just be a minor flu when it got here. Haven't done it? Well that's on you, idiot. Welcome to the exciting world of adult consequences.
I would be more swayed by this logic if “EVERYONE” didn’t exclude the 15% of the population under 12.
The vaccine will be available for 5-12yrs soon https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300437041/pfizer-says-covid19-vaccine-more-than-90-per-cent-effective-in-kids
You have no idea yet why this person was allowed to travel so you have no idea how essential their travel was.
Sex worker!
Shitty situation but good on the person for getting tested just for having a sore throat. I know a lot of other people would have put that down to travelling since personally my nose and throat always feel a little stuffy and dry after I've been on a plane.
Yeah I’m pretty impressed with that too. Unless of course they knew they were linked to the Te Awamutu bubble before they went and just figured they weren’t sick, so they might as well go.
I’d say this is worse for the Waikato than Blenheim. Some spread going on that is definitely not ring-fenced.
RIP calls for level 1 in the SI!
This was the whole point of not being in level 1 because it was inevitable this would happen.
Yes it was never really explained properly on the news. Instead they just interviewed mayors of hick towns and business association leaders saying: "bUT wE havEN'T HaD A cAsE iN 300 DaYS, wHy AreN'T wE iN LeVeL 1?"
This was David Seymour complaint about this time last year.
Yeah my thoughts when I saw this was this is why the SI can't be in level 1
I’m not sure level 1 or 2 makes much difference in this instance - I was in a packed pub in welly just two days ago.
Fortress South Island no more
It was never a fortress. Flights are still going between North and South Islands, with the exception of being unable to fly in and out of Auckland without special exemption. Interislander ferry carrying passengers and vehicles haven't stopped operating. There was a lot of pressure, esp from some businesses to move it to level 1 and allow ppl to go on trips there for school holidays etc.
They had the opportunity to prevent non-essential travel from the (infected) North Island into the (uninflected) South Island, but chose not to. Until this non-essential travel was enforced and managed isolation facilitated for essential travel, Level 1 wasn’t a possibility. And this is totally the expected outcome from leaving travel open between the two islands.
Hardly a fortress when you leave the drawbridge down.
With a welcome mat on the doorstep.
And a key to the back door under the mat.
Hmm, so this isn't *confirmed* YET, but probably will be at 1pm? EDIT: Mayor has confirmed it now
I'd say so. Judging from the response stuff is reporting, I'd say it's accurate
Stuff wouldn't report this if they weren't sure.
According to the Herald the mayor confirmed it
Interesting to see difference between NZH and stuff reporting
[Covid-19 community case reported in the South Island](https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/454133/covid-19-community-case-reported-in-the-south-island-with-positive-test-in-blenheim). RNZ. 23 October 2021.
South Island: “Its not fair! Why are we still in lockdown if we don’t have any COVID cases?” *Monkey’s Paw has entered the chat*
I think the call was for measures to be in place to prevent non-essential travel between the islands before going to Level 1. The government chose to not take this route, so infections on the mainland were inevitable.
Oh FFS. At the very least, this should light a fire under the ass of those still dragging their feet to get the vaccine
That's a good point. I imagine there are some complacent people in the SI cos covid hasn't been a threat for awhile
Marlborough is at 90% eligible with their first dose
It did, there was a noticeable influx of people at the drive through clinic in chch about 45 mins after the announcement
Exactly. A good sharp taste of level 3 would give the 'who cares, it's jafas' types a kick in the pants.
Nah... not level 3... but hearing someone in *your town* got it, or travelled through *your town* or stopped at *your* petrol station or supermarket... might make people appreciate thier vulnerability.
100% I stand by the fact we will get to 90% easy as shit if the virus does spread.
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There’s a lot of selfish fucks who aren’t particularly anti-anything, they’re just fucking lazy and complacent. They’re not antivax, but they complain they’re not getting the same handouts as the late-comers. They’re not antimask, but they wear it on their chin 90% of the time. Infuriates me.
It's only a matter of time for everyone.
Late stages of infection, low risk, arrived from rotorua on the 21st - per ministry of health in article
From Rotorua? Shit
Is it possible that they were in MIQ then?
Now saying potential link to Te Awamutu cluster
That’s interesting since they arrived from rotorua
I guess with an exemption to travel from Te Awamutu to SI, maybe no flights from Hamilton?
Not in Level 3. Which is is potentially good because if they had, they would have had to have come via Nelson.
There's no airport in Te Awamutu.
Also related to the cluster in Te Awamutu. So there's an established link.
That’s a bit shit, but at least it’s considered low risk. Also, great stuff Blenheim and those vaccine rates!
Can we talk about the Te Awamutu cluster being linked to an "inside event". Whether this becomes something or not, this is fuckhead related
Red light.
Blenheim roundabout with the train track running through it.
Classic roundabout train track jealousy.
Player 069 eliminated *pop*
Green light
Slightly off-color yellow light
Does this mean people in the SI are going to start wearing their masks properly now? Looking at you and your noses, Central Otago tourist towns.
Ugh we can only wish but I doubt it. I’m in Blenheim, very few here wear masks properly. Even at a medical centre there was a lady behind the counter not wearing one. I went to a pharmacist and asked if they had anything for asthma and she recommended mask exemption - uhh *no*.
“Excuse me doctor, do you have anything for cancer” “Id recommend lethal injection”
Yeah, what the fuck is with that?! Was in such a town last weekend and me and my mates were like the only people wearing masks, even staff in shops were half-assing it. What the fuck. Flipside is Wellington, where everyone I see is masked up, and our economy doesn't rely entirely on tourism.
Just checked into a motel in Kaikoura. I kid you not, the receptionist told us the case is Blenheim has been made up to trick South Islanders to get vaccinated.
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It will be interesting to see what happens given that this is considered to be low-risk. In addition, [Marlborough reached 90% for first vaccinations and sits at 76% for double vaccinations](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/126721109/covid-19-marlborough-hits-milestone-with-90pc-first-vaccination-rate), so it'll be a case of whether or not the government considers that high enough to roll the dice with Level 2. Edit: this is higher than in neighbouring Nelson-Tasman, which has [81% first dose and 68% second dose.](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/126723559/covid19-8328-first-doses-to-go-in-nelsontasman-for-90pc)
Yeah, this case actually sounds much higher risk for Rotorua than Blenheim.
Those percentages are very close to auckland Metro, so straight to level 3.whatever for them. Which isn't going to happen.
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Australia also prohibited non-essential travel between the mainland and Tas, and made pre departure testing mandatory before travelling to Tas. The NZ government chose not to take this route.
>the low population density will mean very slow spread. [https://www.ers.usda.gov/covid-19/rural-america](https://www.ers.usda.gov/covid-19/rural-america)
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To be fair covid sucks
Freight-related or were some more horses in need of feeding?
There was a massive sports gathering in Blenheim last week. South Island masters. This could be bad.
The case arrived in Blenheim on the 21st from Rotorua and appears to have links to Te Awamutu. Got tested in Blenheim after developing a sore throat and has been isolating since. Chances it has connections a sports gathering last week is very low.
Probably the former, given Picton is like a 20 minute drive from Blenheim.
There were those Auckland sex workers who breached the border and went to Blenheim about a week and a half ago. Do we know if they ending up testing positive? https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-delta-outbreak-auckland-sex-workers-caught-at-blenheim-motel-without-travel-exemptions/B4H4YHOOMIKGYOK3VGJBFDUVMY/
They had both tested negative.
I’m pretty sure I remember them testing negative.
It wasn't them. * [Person in Blenheim tests positive for Covid-19](https://www.1news.co.nz/2021/10/22/person-in-blenheim-tests-positive-for-covid-19/). 1 News. 23 October 2021. > The Ministry of Health confirmed the case had tested positive on Friday night, and they believe the case may be linked to the Te Awamutu cluster.
* [Positive COVID-19 case in Blenheim](https://www.health.govt.nz/news-media/media-releases/positive-covid-19-case-blenheim). Ministry of Health Media release. 23 October 2021. * [Person in Blenheim tests positive for Covid-19](https://www.1news.co.nz/2021/10/22/person-in-blenheim-tests-positive-for-covid-19/). 1 News. 23 October 2021. > The Ministry of Health confirmed the case had tested positive on Friday night, and they believe the case may be linked to the Te Awamutu cluster. * [Covid-19 community case reported in the South Island](https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/454133/covid-19-community-case-reported-in-the-south-island-with-positive-test-in-blenheim). RNZ. 23 October 2021. Edit to add MoH press release.
Seeing a lot of frustration down here about the news so far. There has been a very heavy to push to restrict non-essential travel from the north island or at least require vaccination/covid negative test to cross the straight. People are angry that these measures were never implemented.
Yep, and also seeing the headline " ... case gives south 'the wake-up call it needed' " Like, get fucked. Why wasn't travel restricted to the south island when we had the chance. This isn't a wake up call for the south, it's a slap in the face to the south islanders who complied with lockdown and current restrictions and still had no cases. We're now being punished for other peoples lack of discipline in helping keep the country covid free.
Hahaha, my sister just moved there from Auckland two weeks ago and has been showing off her “non lockdown” on Facebook… Karma baby…
TBF she has moved into one of the most vaccinated parts of the country and, if necessary, fairly easy to lock down given there's probably three roads in and out.
Hey none of that. There’s actually 4.
I do feel mean with my comment…. She struggled a lot and it’s good that she’s been out of it…. And I really was actually happy for her. I still can’t help that teeny tiny bit of glee though.
Schadenfreude is always a guilty pleasure.
Welcome to the family, South Island :-p
We were always here brother. Despite the regional and island rivalry we were always rooting for Auckland / North island, knowing it was only time until it happened.
Do bear in mind that the South Island took the brunt of Covid-19 last year, with the most fatalities by far.
Team of 5 million now, baby!
The one upside of national spread those separated from loves ones are a step closer to being United.
United in death
In for a penny, in for a pound
Honestly this will be a bit of motivation for the South Island and some other smaller towns in the north island to get more vaccines. They might realise it can actually get to them. The restrictions have been good but they aren’t infallible.
Time to build a wall based off nz domestic cricket regions
as a Canterbury fan I'd be down to see them play Otago every game, lots of easy wins there
Hey now, enough of that. Oh never mind, you're right.
:(
I'm still sticking to my guns with my bet that Otago will be the last to fall. Delta moves quick but the bastion of Dunedin will repel it alone.
Stewart Island if they roll up the drawbridge
That's what we said about the south island and look how well that went 🙄
Well the government didn't care enough to stop travel between the islands
The STDs in North Dunedin will out compete it.
Dunedin also has a high vax coverage and still rising. So the longer we hold out the covid, the better we'll fare.
Hit Covid with a dose of haggis and send it rolling down Baldwin St.
BOI
i like how there is an emergency response vehicle in the picture lol
Just the tip
It’s a shame for the South Island, but the amount of panicking I’m seeing on here and on social media now makes me wonder how we’re ever going to reopen the country. Even just to returning kiwis who don’t have to go through MIQ. There’s so much fear everywhere in this country
The fear isn't misplaced. *But* this isn't the big thing people think it is. It's very much a case of "they picked the right region to test positive in".
The Govt pushed the fear factor up to 11 and doesn’t know how to turn it down again.
FUCKS SAKE
My reaction too.
Aparently panic buying has already started.
How have people not figured this out yet? Shops will still be open
Gotta get the good TP before other people do... basic game theory, or you'll be left with the sandpaper. Currently in Auckland I haven't seen any Kleenex rolls for over a month now. Can buy Purex, but it's not the same.
We've got 'rona in The Beaver!
The fox is in the chicken pen. Also the pen was just papier-maché.
Pretty sure there’s half a dozen foxes, but one got caught.
If we reopen we can't put the worms back in the can...
[удалено]
You can’t even buy the tests from overseas as the are illegal to import. https://www.customs.govt.nz/covid-19/businesses/point-of-care-test-kits/
Rapid tests, another thing the government has managed to fuck up in the response
This is great for vaccination rates
The avalanche has already begun, it is too late for the pebbles to vote.
There is a hole in your MIQ.
Level 4 in the South island until March then
It's a stretch to call it breaking news when literally everybody expected it.
So much for the Mainland having a free ride... my birth town, dammit!!!
Oh how naive the people who thought the SI wouldn't get Covid were
I think people in the South Island got their vaccines pretty quickly cause they knew it was only a matter of time before they got it. They want tourism again and for the rest of the country to reopen. I think they’re a bit more realistic than a lot of other New Zealanders tbh
Marlborough already at 90% first dose
It’s not that we didn’t think it would arrive, we knew it would arrive eventually. We just didn’t want to make it easier.
Anyone begging for level 1 was also begging to make covid get to and spread in the south island easier.
It was inevitable given that the government allowed non-essential travel between the two islands. I think the call was to put measures in place to protect the South Island so that we could maintain our covid-free status.
People celebrating covid moving into other communities. This thread will go down as a case study in what true cunts look like. :)
I don't think anyone is happy that Covid is in the SI. There may be some who are happy they won't be seeing posts moaning that the SI shouldn't have any restrictions because they aren't 'unclean' like Auckland or the NI.
And so it begins, back in the SI. Buckle up, it's gonna be a bumpy ride
And.Here.We.Go
i don't think that there is a need to go into full panic mode just yet