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a new lockdown, and an NZ lesson. (Patreon)

Published:
2021-08-17 20:51:27
Imported:
2026-06
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hallo loves.

sunrise in aotearoa new zealand.

this country has only seen 26 deaths from covid, total, since the pandemic started.

we went into hard level 4 lockdown last night at midnight because they’d detected one single case in the community. there was a national news briefing at 6pm. at 7pm, every cell phone in NZ blared an alert.

everybody scuttled home.

they’ve now found four cases of delta variant in the community, and i’m relieved we are in a hard lockdown.

i want to explain this to the people overseas who weren’t following last year: level four lockdown here means you don’t do anything but stay home, cook and survive. there is no take-out. no hardware store. the only thing that is open? hospitals, gas stations, grocery stores. that’s it.

you can walk around your neighborhood. you can bubble with one carer or friend if you live alone. if you are divorced/separated parents of a child, you can drive back and forth. you cannot kayak, surf, mountain bike, or do anything that might pull emergency services your way.

people and businesses losing income can apply to the government and receive aid, quickly. this is how NZ managed to evade a further covid outbreak after those initial 26 deaths. and i hope it works again. after reading all of the stories from the states about how confusing, conflicting and maddening the system (or lack of system) is over there, i’ve never felt more grateful to a government. they are organized, they are compassionate, they communicate clearly, and it’s saved thousands of lives. 633,000 deaths in america so far.

i will lockdown happily. with passion, almost. i still cannot believe i get to be here. i’m more grateful today to be in this country than i ever have been. it’s all relative.

new zealand is less than 50% vaxxed (all pfizer) due to a painfully slow rollout; one thing that isn’t going as well as it could here. when jacinda arden, the prime minister, was asked yesterday why the public should still “pursue vaccines”, even though you can be vaxxed and still get covid, she replied: 

“because they prevent you from dying“.

mind-blowing, isn’t it.

happy to take questions but hoping the kiwi patrons can help me answer … i’m back into a world of no school and full-on domestic life with ash and a lotta dishes.


i’ll be extra slow getting back to anyone about anything.

i was supposed to head back to the recording studio tomorrow. that ain’t happening. and it’s fine. i saw this all coming and that’s part of why i’ve been slowing my life and work down. it is what it is. and i’m glad it is what it is.

lots of love to all of you everywhere, and thank you for being my patrons through all of this. you’re keeping me alive.

xx

AFP

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Comments

Jennifer Peace

It's so amazing to me but brings me hope that there IS this kind of government out there. I'm living in the worst... Florida. A beautiful place to live with lots of ignorant people in it.... I've often said America is too big. I'm not talking about splitting off states, what's done is done, but it often feels like I see a protest in Paris and things happen. I see a PM in NZ and things happen. In America it's SO big, TOO BIG. We can't get 100% compliance on anything, it seems. We can't be cohesive, we can't make a difference (I know we can, I know the protests and marches can do something, but it FEELS ineffective). I'm so glad you are where you are, with your loved ones with you. I'm an optimistic person by nature so hearing that there are places like NZ out there, who seem to have their shit together, fills my heart which has been lacking my usual silver lining clouds at the moment...

Amy Hardingson

I caught delta variant with one vaccine under my belt about a month ago (in UK). While I had a fairly mild version of it (probably in part due to having had one vaccine) I am still having post covid symptoms affecting my sense of smell and brain fog so intense I've had to stop driving. It's likely to fully pass in the course of the next month or two, but it just goes to show how much of an impact huge numbers of people catching covid has. Months of impact even with a mild version. I think New Zealand has always had an excellent approach. I'm accepting of what route the UK is taking but there are plenty of downsides that will be lived out by by people. Physical and mentally taxing.

shadowbliss

I live in Australia and only just got my first vaccine today and I'm getting my second on the 8th (thats just how the vaccine rollout has been for us). I'm just waiting out the 3 weeks or so where I can get the second jab.

Mike Angus

Amanda, that sounds absolutely lovely compared to the mayhem here. We flew from LA to JFK to help our daughter moved into the dorm for her first semester of college in Connecticut. Kids and parents had to be vaxxed. Parents had to wear masks, students didn’t. They staggered what would normally be a single day of move-ins across three days. Extremely efficient. Most are still working remotely or a hybrid, but some corporations are still requiring everyone to come in. It results in a horrible dynamic created on so many levels. Xoxoxo

Laura Wellner

I'm glad you're safe. Turns out our county is now the hot spot of New York State with 100 new cases each day over the weekend, 40% of which are vaccinated. Oh joy, oh rapture, here we fucking go again! And they're still going to have the NY State Fair in spite of it all, including free testing and vaccines for those who want it. We keep going forward, wearing masks, keeping the hand sanitizer handy. I had hoped for better days by now, this is so fucked up and discouraging. Be safe! love & hugs!!

Anonymous

Here in Melbourne we're in our 6th lockdown; 3rd caused from the Delta variant. People really underestimate(d) the severity of this mutation in comparison to what COVID was in its beginning stages.. I'm so relieved that New Zealand have always had such a brilliant control over this vicious disease, and that you have a prime minister who cares about all residents' health and safety by doing these hard and fast lockdowns... her statement on vaccination definitely shows that! I hope this lockdown will only be short for you guys and that this variant gets stamped out for your country, and that the vaccination % will increase during this time

Anonymous

your passion in what you were saying got me having a minor emote moment! It is one of the most powerful threads of my life, having been born a 4th generation aotearoan, in particular born a 4th generation Rakiurian, Stewart Islander, I have always had a sense of gratitude for experiencing this thing called life, based here on these remote south pacific islands & rocks. I was wrapped to hear that when you were faced with having to make a covid call, you all chose to stay here, we are richer for having you, Neil & Ash amidst us, even in a nz level 4 no contact lockdown isolation.

EmVT

In case this may be news to non-US folks, the US health agencies are looking at, and probably going to announce, a recommendation for everyone starting to get booster shots for Pfizer and Moderna starting in September. The booster timing is 8 months after your initial shot, and is in light of new data on breakthrough cases and antibodies found in the blood of vaccinated people, implying a slight reduction in vaccine efficiency over time. I think I heard on National Public Radio (NPR) 92% dropping to 80% efficiency over time. There's nothing inherently alarming about booster shots, sounds par for the course to me, but I worry about anti-vaxxers misrepresenting it somehow as vaccines not working.

Dahlia Graham

Hi from Woodstock, NY. My daughter (4 ½), loves having stuffy parties. She pulls all of her studies into the hallway sometimes for a stuffy parade. If you ever do make it back here I bet she and Ash would hit it off!

Anneloes Fickweiler

“you cannot kayak, surf, mountain bike, or do anything that might pull emergency services your way.” This made me cry! That level of respect for the emergency services is just beautiful. I’m happy that NZ exists, just so all of our countries can’t say that this pandemic can’t be done properly and humanely. We can only, honestly, say that we chose death, selfishness and greed knowingly, at the expense of hospital personnel and so many others. We are (here in The Netherlands) preparing for our sixth wave (our fifth unnecessary one), and have nearly 18k COVID deaths that were properly registered. So many lives and families destroyed, so many carers disillusioned and burnt out, and so many long haul COVID-ers… We suck.

a mariana

I was reading through your posts, i'm glad you and Ash are safe and sound. Here in Portugal we spent a lot of time from the last year in lockdown, inclusing more than 3 months of a "lvl 4 lockdown" i believe. This because people just let it escalte to the point of exhaustion. The youngest doctors can work 24h in a row up to 4 times a week and medical staff has to abdicate from holidays to keep it up. It's better now but i'm never reluctant to stay home again. I don't remember the last time i gathered with friends. I just see one or two once in a while. I just wish the majority of people would be careful. So many tragedies could be avoided. My bf's mom is a nurse and her description of the intensive care is frightening. We've had 17.622 deaths. 67% of the population is vaccinated. I am just thankfull i've been able to sail smoothly through this pandemic. My wishes are with everyone.

Pedro B. Gorman

Dear Amanda, The flipside? You’re keeping our souls alive, friend :)))))

Pedro B. Gorman
>>66160946

Força, amiga Mariana! Também estou em Portugal, Lisboa! I agree with you fully. People, all around the world, can be…uhmm… less than smart about their own safety but, much worse, so negligent of the safety of others: “not my circus, not my monkeys.” Uhmm…wrong, people. We are each other’s monkeys, and there’s only one circus! Much love, strength, care and peace to you, Mariana; to all patrons here, and all people on this wondrous, slightly weird rock.