Associate Professor Siouxsie Wiles: There’s a very real effort to rewrite NZs early COVID experience. Let’s make sure the enquiry don’t just hear from those who’ve fallen for disinformation!

There’s a very real effort to rewrite NZs early COVID experience. Let’s make sure the enquiry don’t just hear from those who’ve fallen for disinformation!

Hi All! Submissions are now open for the NZ Royal Commission Covid 19 Inquiry. Winston Peters is asking all his supporters to make submissions. They need sane people to make submissions too. So please, make a submission and share this link. haveyoursay.covid19lessons.royalcommission.nz Thank you.

Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 - Citizen Spacehaveyoursay.covid19lessons.royalcommission.nz Find and participate in activities run by Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19

I’ll make a submission. I feel like this govt is setting it up for a negative result, but if we flood it with positive responses surely that will make a difference.

Ironically, my response /is/ negative as there are two questions: how did we do, what should we do. My unbridled rage at the current head in the sand bum up lalalala current state filled the zone on the second question.

Even the “how DID we do” is a tale of two responses; before letting it rip & after. And we’re still *in it* despite this and the previous govt pretending it’s finished. I’m absolutely all for countering the anti-science brigade, but won’t be ignoring the reality of how the response changed course.

Totally with you on this!

I will write in that we did brilliantly at the start but it's atrocious now and let them know why.

Thank you!

It’s the belief that if they say it out loud and click their heels, those lies will become realities, unchallenged. NZ had it SO much better than us in the UK who watched in horror people we knew get ill and pass away. As one John Clarke used to say, “you don’t know how lucky you are”.

Ain’t that the truth!

I commented on excellent communications by you & PM & others. Thanks we were so lucky to have you here. The haters dominated the discourse over us quietly grateful - just getting on with it.

Its a hard ask,but those before the inquiry giving evidence & stories in favour of the COVID response as it was delivered are going to need an expert such as yourself, David Hood (@thoughtfulnz.bsky.social) etc to stand beside them, to speak up against disinformation from those heading the inquiry.🇳🇿

I’m in!

I am willing to answer questions from anyone writing their submission, but with the individual responses now open I personally think a key thing is not to have NZ's personal experiences of the last few years defined by insane cookers.

I suspect anyone who can stay on topic about the prompts of how the pandemic was for them and what is important to learn/ remember for the future will be doing better than a lot of cooker rants.

If I see anything I’ll try chip in.

Is there a concise list anywhere of what we did well and what we could have done better, which we can cherry-pick and write our own words around please? I've forgotten half the details already (not as young as I used to be).

That’s a good question! Not that I’ve seen.

I have found a complete timeline of all Govt events in PDF format on this page but I can't find the link to share (my Edge browser finds them) which is a great help. I'll try from my desktop. haveyoursay.covid19lessons.royalcommission.nz

I've also found what the cookers coalition wants to expand the enquiry into. This gives us some idea of what answers to give to rebut these concepts.

Great article in The Guardian by Michael Baker and Nick Wilson highlights a lot of what we did/should do better:

New Zealand’s Covid strategy was one of the world’s most successful – what can we learn from it? | Michael Baker and Nick Wilsonwww.theguardian.com This pandemic and future pandemic threats will remain challenging – New Zealand needs to build on its achievements

There are some gems in here, if you can wade through it (it's quite scientific, but gives good pointers): www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

COVID-19 in New Zealand and the impact of the national response: a descriptive epidemiological studywww.thelancet.com New Zealand's response resulted in low relative burden of disease, low levels of population disease disparities, and the initial achievement of COVID-19 elimination.

Was. Rip to everyone currently dying of the multiple issues that covid causes.

"cost-effectiveness" when it comes to mass death and disability makes me very much want to slap someone

That's probably Van Velden who thinks we valued life too highly during the early part of the pandemic

i'm guessing the cookers think that's a well researched set of Catch-22 phrases but they think we're all stupid too

Just trying to clarify - from memory this looks like the list that NZ First put up. Correct?

Sorry it's taken a couple of days to rediscover it. This was taken from: www.covid19lessons.royalcommission.nz/the-inquiry/... about halfway down the page.

OK. I cannot find the public version, so here's a copy on my OneDrive. Download and read to your hearts content: 1drv.ms/b/s!Am_IM4M0...

Reading through this really brings it all back into sharp focus. Please download and read it but stop if it affects your mental health.

Found the source file: www.dpmc.govt.nz/sites/defaul...

www.dpmc.govt.nz

www.nzdoctor.co.nz/timeline-cor... has one as well

Timeline - Coronaviruswww.nzdoctor.co.nz Timeline - coronavirus - COVID-19 2019 29 December Chinese authorities advise the WHO of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause, originating in Wuhan, Hubei province 2020 7 January China isolates a nove...

Weird the timeline doesn’t include the word “lockdown”

Was "lockdown" ever official terminology though?

No but the timeline doesn’t even note the date NZ went into lockdown, or whatever the offical name was. 26 March not mentioned. It talks abt border closures and iso rules and all that stuff. That’s just weird!

Think it's accepted internationally. I talk about it with our international clients and everyone understands without any explanation.

@smollestbunny2.bsky.social

Government has gone backwards now. And the new ultra fascist parties are potentially going to cancel all future vaccines under any kind of funding.

Tautoko e hoa, will submit personally as well as for some of my boards, thanks again for your leadership, comms and guidance during the Covid lockdowns - my small human thinks you’re ‘the best!’ ⭐️

Thanks Traci!

Ngā mihi me ngā manaakitanga e hoa 🌸

Yeah let’s have the stories that kept us safe, it may have been hard but for a brief moment we were all working together 💕

Lest we forget www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

I hope there's more than one person recognising the work of you and others.... THANK YOU!!!

Thanks Kelly!

My submission could only be from my perspective as a citizen in Melbourne, looking in at how much more effective the NZ response was while VIC was refusing to do what they needed

It allows for that. At the end it asks you where you were so you very much should share that experience.

Thank you, I had no idea. I’m in the Netherlands where they let it rip every time, up to and including hospitals in unofficial code black. So yeah, I might have a view to share.

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