I was going to leave to space to others to comment on MIQ a little longer. So much being said. And when all is said and done, the arguments for both sides are fairly reductive:
The trolls: You shouldn’t have left. Oh really? The phrase ‘bodily autonomy’ renders that one redundant from the outset. Humans have flowed back and forward across borders since the beginning of time. The concept of citizenship recognizes the rights and privileges’ to the individual and likewise the benefits to societies and communities accrued by the exchange of ideas and commerce back to the home nation.
The Government:Â ‘No need to go around lighting matches with a bonfire burning’. Ardern. Or from NZ Health Minister Chris Hipkins came the phrase: Returnees via MIQ are gauged as, “cumulative risk”.
Oh really? As your resident Enlightened Gen X Housewife and microbiology student I went looking for this phrase in reputable publications to see how this position might be informed. Nothing has yet been published in the field of virology with regards to how travel across borders increases ‘cumulative risk’ to the growth of viral outbreaks. ‘Cumulative risk’ is a phrase that has been largely coined in the medical field to apply to an individual’s risk profile. It has also been used in the arena of social justice to apply to risk factors to under privileged communities. As politicians do, Hipkins made shit up, to keep us out.
Why would he do such a thing?
One: They, the Government doesn’t know what to do. The most likely reason. At the time this phrase was bandied around, Labour hadn’t got their act together around the Omicron response and the rapid testing required for greater circulation of the population. It was easier just to make shit up on the fly.
Two: The polls. Incumbent governments poll really well in wartime if the enemy is losing. The enemy in this instance being Covid. Make no mistake about it, The Government could have declared a victory of sorts after Delta numbers fell so quickly and border numbers incoming were outweighed by numbers infected in the community. Delta and Omicron are different enough that this was a clear chance to unite all New Zealanders. But the Government was worried about it’s polling in light of National rolling former National Leader Judith Collin and replacing her with the more publicly palatable, rugby club type persona; Christopher Luxon. So the obvious way to regroup and bolster is to revert to formerly successful tactics and encourage a cancel culture around the inadvertent carriers of the enemy. Us. You and I. (Only relevant if you are outside of the borders. But this should cause everyone pause to think. Even the trolls)
Except. It’s not really the same enemy anymore.
Omicron is not a death wave waiting in the wings. This skirmish is more of a pesky excursion courtesy of attendees to events arranged or encouraged by the Government.
And this is where the Government realized it had to change it’s messaging and approach from Keep It Out to ‘Let It Rip’!
Omicron came in on a Welcome Mat laid out by Labour. They won’t admit to this of course. But it did. The first DJ didn’t let it in. But you have to question. Which event organizer, or performer might have tested positive after arriving here. There were an awful lot of events that we know about organized thanks to the activity of the Arts portfolio under Ardern. But lets not blame the musicians and artists. I drop that sector in for a sense of perspective.
How about those diplomats and Government Department workers who were unable to complete all business by Zoom. If you think no-one working for the Government moved across the border in the past two years then you were born yesterday. They were sucking up MIQ spots faster than a hooker giving a blowjob.
And the business people. This sector also had to compete with the above and expats. But the Government could not afford a completely unfriendly business approach less the job layoffs get completely out of hand.
Exclude for now the Expat MIQ contingency. Do you get the sense that the inn is bustling with a whack-ton of people coming in and out of New Zealand at the Governments behest or with the Government’s blessing? What is the chances of all those people retuning without some being infected? That’s right. Slim to none.
So at some stage we were softened up for the arrival of Omicron and lo and behold Omicron has arrived and it was no surprise when we were told that it was too tricky to continue to trace the virus via whole genome sequencing.
For two years the sequencing has been done religiously. The Delta was sequenced right back to the walkway or lobby it potentially transmitted in and all of a sudden: “Yeah nah this shit is beyond our best labs and so we as a nation have to start preparing for the circulation of Omicron”.
Do you follow my housewife logic? In my household, if the behaviour has been going on for a while and then appears to stop: Either there is drugs or money involved or that person really doesn’t want to get caught!
How then to continue to fight the war when we’ve conceded a defeat of sorts and we’re actually having a toast to the fallen and laughing at the other countries fallen numbers on the battlefield but we don’t want to get roasted by other political parties or bleed out in the polls?
You make someone else the target of public focus. And that’s usually the most vulnerable group who has the least comeback to the Government. They already have every reason not to fight back (who would listen to them) and probably have a good dose of Imposter Syndrome where they feel like they’re just nobody anyway and as soon as someone points this out everybody will know. You can put up a reasonably light defense and it will act as an offense to those who are seeking to assert their rights but have imposter syndrome. As someone who used to be afflicted with this I should know. It goes with the territory of being a Mum. Disabled, or on your own or other factors.
In a foreign country.
So The Government instead of reuniting expats with NZ after united efforts to borders tight to keep out Delta decided to take on pregnant ladies seeking space in MIQ.
A lot of Kiwi babies have been born oversea during the past two years.
