Letters: ICU beds and staff, inequity and unfairness, diversion tactics, and intensive housing

How much of our response to the Covid pandemic has been due to the lack of capacity in our ICU wards? Photo / Getty Images, File

Making our beds to lie in
New Zealand stands as one of the most vaccinated but restricted countries in the world. One might have suspected the more vaccinated the country became, the less need for lockdown.
Our celebrated rugby team has become homeless, like the Pakistani cricket team. It is touring other countries far more ravaged by Covid than ourselves to provide some much-needed respite for its starved fans at home.
Back home, we have a herd of anti-vax, anti-lockdown dissidents marching on Parliament and/or clashing with hapless police controlling the Auckland border despite our impeccable Covid stats. Why?
For some time there has been a growing awareness that whatever international trophies we hold, we are much the poorer on the world stage when it comes to comparing our per capita ICUs in hospitals. Presently we are nowhere near our capacity number of ICUs occupied.
The inconvenient truth is that we have a shortage of the essential staff required to person what modest ICU numbers we have.
Such a situation needs urgent addressing before the next major disaster.
Apportioning blame for this state is not what's important. But fixing it now that it has been exposed is imperative.
G. D. Putt, Remuera.

Fair enough
Experts reportedly warn that the move to reduce restrictions on Aucklanders caused by Covid will have "inequitable outcomes". The definition of inequitable is unfair or unjust which is clearly not the case here.
If someone prefers not to take up the option of a free vaccine then they may certainly have an unequal outcome to someone who has made the effort to get vaccinated.
This outcome is not unfair given that both parties had the same opportunity to get the vaccine.
C Fraser, Freemans Bay.

All told in the end
The "nobody-tells-me-what-to-do" brigade are unbelievable.
When (not if) they get Covid-19 they will be "told" to go to hospital; "told" to get treatment; "told" to go to ICU; "told" to get their wills in order, etc.
And their ghosts will be heard to moan, "nobody tells me what to do".
Ailsa Martin-Buss, Glendowie.

Curious creatures
Now a bat is a bird, is the next flight of fancy birdbrain of the year? I nominate myself.
I really thought Labour intended to reduce GHG emissions. Instead it has offered another sideshow: Three Waters. There's an obvious benefit putting everything under one roof - if you want to sell or give it away.
Bikes and cycle lanes could reduce emissions. What about white elephants? At least they would take you door-to-door. Just like the autonomous self-drive electric vans we'll have long before we see a dinosaur track down Dominion Rd to the airport.
For $15 billion we could plant one on every street corner.
Dennis N Horne, Howick.

Throwing shade
I agree with Chris Chrystall (NZ Herald, November 9) re the new housing policy leaving Auckland homes vulnerable.
Perhaps they should test it out by building a three-storey house next to all the politicians' homes who agreed to this policy, preferably on the northern side so they will lose all the sunlight.
Janet Bailey, Henderson.

Strong words
Councillor Chris Fletcher was absolutely linguistically correct (NZ Herald, November 5) in her use of the phrase "rape of Auckland" and she should have stuck to her guns. But when she doubled down and used the phrase "gang rape", she might have overstepped the mark.
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) actually lists the "violation or ravishing of a woman" as its third meaning (1481) and places as its first meaning "the act of taking anything by force" and "violent seizure" (c1400).
Fletcher's initial use of the "r" word in the context should not have upset anyone other than the most sensitive.
C Johnstone, Grey Lynn.

That's not okay
"Despite how hard everything feels right now, we are going to be okay," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told the country (NZ Herald, November 2). But she is wrong.
There are myriad reasons for permitted travel, but leaving Auckland to see your children and grandchildren because of your life-limiting illness is not one.
Ardern has encouraged kindness but this policy is cruel. It may have been cruel but necessary in March 2020 but, for the fully vaccinated, it is now egregious.
For those of us affected by her Government's policy, Ardern needs to understand that despite her smiling reassurance we are not going to be okay.
Nor will I ever vote Labour again.
Jan Sinclair, St Heliers.

Taking flight
Air New Zealand and inter-island ferries may hold the solution for safe exiting travel for Aucklanders during the summer holidays.
With travel mandates in place for air travel, only double-vaccinated people with a negative Covid test will be able to leave Auckland for other parts of New Zealand. The sheer volume for checking all the necessary documents at the borders would make car travel impractical, as indicated by the Government.
While hard borders North and South are still in place, Air New Zealand could saturate the regions with cheap flights, generating a boost to tourism and using their standby planes and workforce.
Hire companies for campervans, rental cars, motels, hotels and other tourist spots could all benefit.
Covid-free South Islanders would be protected whilst having increased safe tourism from the north.
Ray Fay, Waiuku.

Digesting thoughts
After-dinner executive chat:
A: "Hey, guys, I got a great idea how to get people out of cars - leave 'em with nowhere to park!" (Yay! Hear, hear).
B: "But... er, what about old people and people with disabilities and mums with little kids and lots of shopping and..."
A: "Oh shut up, B, you're always such a wet blanket."
Anne Martin, Helensville.

Obama's anger
When President Obama's administration ratified the Paris Climate Agreement in 2016 he made it clear that he was convinced that climate change is driven by CO2 emissions from the burning of fossil fuels and that drastic action was required to reduce these emissions. This week, Obama urged activists at COP26 to "stay angry" over climate change (NZ Herald, November 10) , so clearly his views haven't changed - much.
In 2018, private citizen Obama flew into Auckland in a private jet, took a helicopter to the Bay of Islands and back for a game of golf with his old mate John Key, and then departed our shores, again in the private jet. All this without a single Greenpeace placard-waver or celebrity finger wagger in sight. Pretty much says it all, I think.
Brian O'Neill, Chatswood.

Electric options
Whilst Bryan Leyland's opinion piece (NZ Herald, November 9) on NZ's electricity market was correct in so far as a Single Buyer market would result in cheaper electricity, it is a shame he omitted other key information.
The cheapest new electricity generation is photovoltaic farms, which work very well with wind and hydro generation, more so if you have an integrated system. The combination of wind, sun and rain provides natural hedging. When one is in short supply, at least one of the others is plentiful and the lakes, or a large pumped hydro storage scheme, can provide the buffering for peak loads and an inter-seasonal battery.
And his "how many generators will be mad enough to invest in wind farms"? It is those who own hydro storage generation, who can switch between the two, depending on either the weather or the market.
This winter's high prices were not caused simply by a lack of dry year reserve, but by the combination of that and a major gas system infrastructure failure that kept a lot of our gas-fired generation restrained. This gas constraint was one of the reasons so much coal was burnt at Huntly.
Russell Baillie, Mt Eden.

Changing of the guard
Give our police force a break. Let's give our Labour politicians and their advisers the opportunity of policing the Auckland borders over the Christmas period; there are enough of them. Let's give them the experience of carrying out their own decisions.
Let them show the team of five million that they can be kind. Let's do this.
M Croucher, Mt Eden.

Short & sweet

On immunity
Ultimately we will all be vaccinated – some will do it the hard way. Wendy Kusabs, St Heliers.

On diet
We are what we eat. Let's stop pussyfooting about, comfort food and cheap takeaways are killing us. Frances Dallas, Mt Maunganui.

On protesters
A gathering of stupid people who refuse to wear masks and refuse to accept that more than five million people around the world have died from this virus. Peter Jamieson, Titirangi.

On electricity
In support of the opinion piece (NZ Herald, November 9): Yea, Bryan Leyland, choice. Leo Neal, Ellerslie.

On levels
Does any reader know, off the top of their head, within a few seconds, which colour, alert level, or phase or step or combination we are in? Stuart Prossor, Hillcrest.

On forecasts
Is there any truth in the rumour that a manned satellite with windows and direct communication to re-employed lighthouse keepers is to be launched to assist Dancing Dan and his fellow media forecasters with their presentations? Norm Greenall, Ōrewa.

The Premium Debate

Unvaccinated teachers

Well, if this follows the pattern overseas, anti-vaxxers etc will claim that thousands of teachers will be off and then it will end up being a lot less. For instance, in New York when they introduced a mandate for police, opposition figures claimed they would lose 10,000 police. Figures released afterwards show only 35 left as a result. Ross W.

Given the excuses by teachers refusing the vaccination mandate, I wonder about the criteria to gain a teaching qualification. What about social care and responsibility and an ability to research and discriminate valid information? In NZ, teacher basic training takes three years plus. In Germany, for example, it is four to five years. This is not to discredit the majority of dedicated and intelligent teachers that we do have but to maybe explain the numbers of objecting staff. Potter O.

I am amazed by the number of teachers who will reportedly be in a position to quit their jobs, just like that. They must not need money too much for rent, bills, mortgages, etc.
Are they going to live off the land then? Nicholas B.

Whilst vax is very good, it's not 100 per cent protection… we will still need rapid tests, masks etc. We can still catch and transmit the virus. Rapid tests before work every day is one tool currently used overseas. Arguably, just as good, if not better, at protecting our kids. Bring back Kiwi can-do, let's crank out a range of solutions. We don't need a divided community and shortage of workers. Daniel S.

Frankly, the education system doesn't need teachers who are so misguided as to refuse the vaccine. I fully support the Government's stand on this - teachers should be setting a science-based example to the community rather than putting it at risk. John P.

The school year is almost over - perfect timing as the ministry will have holidays to sort out replacements. Adults willingly risking their students' health when protective measures are freely available (vax) deserve to move on. Parents aren't going to tolerate that. Good luck in finding another employer that welcomes at-risk people, because even if they do, their customers won't. Time for the penny to drop and the ignorant and/or selfish to get with the programme. Andrew C.