Daily Archives: January 3, 2022

New Zealand has eased rules on public gatherings in time for New Years Eve after a scare over community cases of the new Omicron variant.

The country is set to lead the worlds celebrations of the new year at midnight on Friday and crowds will be allowed to gather in Auckland for the first time since August to join in the party after the citys Covid traffic-light settings were moved from red to orange.

New Zealand is traditionally one of the first countries to bring in the new year before time differences usher in midnight elsewhere but the festivities had been threatened by tight coronavirus restrictions in place for months.

Under orange settings, the bars, restaurants and cafes that enforce vaccine pass requirements can remove crowd size limits and the requirement to sit down, allowing people to dance the night away.

Many other districts, including Taup, Rotorua lakes districts, Kawerau, Whakatne, ptiki, Gisborne, Wairoa, Rangitkei, Whanganui and Ruapehu also moved to orange at midnight on Thursday. Only Northland has been left on red.

The move comes despite cases of Omicron, which is ripping through many countries including Australia, the US and the UK, emerging in New Zealand this week.

The first came when a traveller from the UK arrived in Auckland and reportedly returned a positive result on day nine of their self-isolation period 27 December. But they had previously returned three negative tests for Covid-19 while completing seven days of managed isolation at a facility in Auckland, the ministry of health said.

The person had been active in the community and visited a restaurant, a festival and shops.

However, on Friday the health ministry said that regarding the Omicron border case announced on Wednesday, microbiologists have advised that the risk of transmission from this case is low.

We can now confirm that the six close contacts who attended the Hidden Lakes festival have all tested negative for Covid-19. This means there was no public health risk associated with this event.

Contact tracing has now identified 88 close contacts for this case. This includes close contacts identified via case interviews and from locations of interest. Eighty of these contacts have been reached, all are isolating and have been tested. All results received to date have been negative. Contact tracers are working urgently to contact the eight close contacts who are yet to be reached.

An Air New Zealand crew member also tested positive for Omicron on 27 December and eight close contacts were isolating. The health ministry said on Friday that all eight had returned negative tests.

There are no locations of interest associated with this case and therefore the risk to the public has been determined to be low, it said.

On Friday, New Zealand reported 49 cases, a drop of 11 on the day before. There were 10 more Omicron cases at the border, taking the total to 88. There were no new Omicron cases.

Read this article:

New Zealand eases Covid crowd rules in time for New Years ...

A British DJ who triggered New Zealands first Omicron scare after breaking home isolation rules will not be prosecuted for the time being, authorities say.

The Ministry of Health does not plan to refer this case to the police at this stage, the ministry said in a statement, adding that it needs to balance the deterrence effect from any potential prosecution with enabling an environment that does not discourage future cases from assisting with the public health response to Covid-19.

Robert Etheridge, also known as DJ Dimension, arrived in New Zealand on 16 December and spent seven days in one of the countrys managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) facilities, where he returned three negative Covid test results, Stuff reported.

After leaving MIQ he was required to spend three days in home isolation but did not wait to receive a negative day-nine test as also required before entering the community.

According to the ministry, he visited a series of venues in Auckland over two days including nightclubs, a shopping precinct and restaurants before receiving a positive test result on 27 December and being returned to MIQ.

Etheridge, who had been due to play at the Rhythm and Alps festival near Wanaka last week, apologised to those who I have inadvertently put at risk as a result of my misunderstandings.

I realise the gravity of the situation and I am deeply regretful to those who have been impacted.

In an earlier statement he said: After completing my 10-day isolation, and of the understanding that I had completed my quarantine, I entered the community. To my shock and enormous concern, I unexpectedly received a positive test on day 12, two days after my isolation period had ended.

His case triggered outrage in New Zealand, which has frequently been praised for its pandemic response and which only recently lifted lockdown restrictions on Auckland, its largest city, after a Delta outbreak.

Despite identifying dozens of close contacts, the ministry said on Monday that none had so far tested positive for the virus.

Covid cases are currently trending downwards in New Zealand, with just 27 new community cases announced on Monday and 24 at the border.

See the article here:

British DJ escapes prosecution after sparking New Zealand's first Omicron scare - The Guardian

Many know Wanaka, a picturesque tourist town at the foot of New Zealands Southern Alps, for its most famous tree.

The willow, which blooms uncannily from the glacial lake as if floating on water, represents different things for different people. For some, the miracles of a divine nature, for others, a marvel easily explained by science.

In the last several months another unlikely phenomenon has taken root among its residents.

Three weeks ago, in what many local patrons describe as a sudden move, three of the towns four yoga studios simultaneously said their final namaste and closed their doors.

The last time I went there there was nothing at the class to suggest things were changing, and then I went online to book my next class and found out I couldnt do that, said Judith Cullen, a local Tarras resident who had been enjoying yoga as an important part of her routine.

The three studios decided that they were unable or unwilling to operate under Aotearoas traffic light system, which requires teachers and students alike to be double vaccinated.

Our studio is all about inclusion and if we cant include everyone, well include no one, said the owner of one of the three to shut its doors.

If local vaccination rates are anything to go by, any vaccine scepticism in the town is relatively confined. According to the most recent data from the Queenstown Lakes District, more than 99% of the region is double vaccinated, putting the small minority of unvaccinated in stark relief.

New Zealands overall vaccination rate is now at 91% of the eligible population according to the Ministry of Health. Around 40% of workforce is covered by vaccine mandates.

Issues with vaccine hesitancy in the nation are evident elsewhere in the country. Several calls to other yoga studios around the Auckland region indicate that some have lost as much as 40% of their instructors with the introduction of the mandates.

Pilates teacher and masseuse Laura Indrane, who was instructing at one of the Wanaka studios before its closure, has started taking on clients privately in the wake of the studios closure.

The vaccination rate in Wanaka and Queenstown lakes is very high and a lot of people who want to practise and keep fit may be feeling really let down, said Indrane.

Born out of the 70s hippy movement, wellness culture has grown into a big industry in recent years both in New Zealand and around the world. The global sector is thought to be valued at $1.5tn, through the focus on optimising an individuals physical and mental state, often by side-lining modern medicine in favour of natural alternatives.

For many steeped in the industry, the Covid-19 vaccine, designed by big-pharma and disseminated by mandate via big government, runs contrary to their entire belief system.

A reactive pro-vaxxer, Indrane worries that the idea of wellness is being distorted from its real meaning.

Im sad about it because Im working in this wellness industry and I feel like people who work in wellness should promote health, but its gone wrong somewhere. Im not sure where, said Indrane.

Where exactly things went wrong may not be clear, but few can argue the powerful role that social media has had in the rise of anti-vax thought in the global wellness community.

Wedged between photos of downwards dogs, glowing chakra, and well-lit crystal balls, high traffic wellness accounts have been leaving a granola-crumb path to more sinister conspiracy theories.

If youre looking at yoga or wellness, you already have some pretty thriving accounts that are popular as it is. And what you find is that often its a subtle pivot, and sometimes a less subtle pivot, where these wellness accounts will be posting similar photos, but the captions underneath will start to include some incredibly strong anti vax rhetoric, said journalist David Farrier, who has been investigating the rise of conspiracy theories online.

The rise of this social media disinformation was almost too much for Ursula Griffen, owner of a mindfulness company and member of New Zealands spiritual wellness community.

I was seeing a lot of it on my feed. I was learning about segregation as they were calling it, and that instilled fear in me, said Griffen.

Despite having had vaccines her entire life and never thinking twice about it, the weight of the disinformation around the Covid-19 vaccine meant she had to spend weeks considering whether or not to get it.

Eventually science, and some helpful words from her brother overseas, brought her over the line. With help from her meditation teacher doing a sermon on radical acceptance over the car speakers, she got her vaccine at a drive through clinic in South Auckland.

I took my beads that I got in Utah that were cedar berries for protective energy and I was just saying to myself, Im divinely protected, said Griffen.

And I got the Pfizer protection too, because I believe in that as well.

Read the original here:

New Zealand yoga industry suffers as anti-vax sentiment co-opts wellness industry - The Guardian

Dear New Zealand,

Its a shame that we as a country have decided to follow a policy of discrimination. Supporting the creation of a two-tiered society is unarguably immoral. Regardless of the reasons, no matter how real they currently appear, discrimination is always wrong and is no different to the discrimination against physically and mentally disabled people, those with the wrong skin colour, the wrong sexual orientation, the wrong religion, the wrong sex, and now the wrong medical status.

The Lancet has recently published articles like this one, COVID-19: Stigmatising the Unvaccinated is not Justified. Interestingly, this article was written by a German who, from my own personal observations, are often highly sensitive to broad social discrimination.

Most New Zealanders will have a relatively stable family history. By this I mean, not a very violent one. For myself, coming from Hungarian Jewish descent, we have twenty-three names on the memorial board at the Holocaust museum in Budapest. There are twenty more from our family who were murdered and who are not on that board, as their histories have been erased.

Even though this was two generations ago, the impact of those murders and the reasons for them are still at the forefront of my consciousness. My relatives, through no fault of their own, were also treated as second-class citizens and in the lead up to the Holocaust in 1944, had fewer rights than everyone else. Laws were changed to severely restrict the number of Jews permitted to hold academic positions, work in various professions, and hold government jobs. Jews were excluded from municipal bodies and many were deprived of the right to vote. Jews were banned from local spas, markets, or the centralised food distribution system in many localities.

All this was done because people did not have the courage to speak out against this discrimination and advocate for those who were the target.

The famous psychology experiment conducted at Yale University 1961 called the Milgram experiment, gave useful insight about why people are still able to do things despite knowing their actions are causing harm. Its a very interesting experiment and if you are not familiar with it, reading it will be a worthy use of your time although there are some who challenge the validity of the experiments. Nonetheless, the principal interpretation of the results are shocking and suggest that ordinary people tend to obey orders, even to the point of killing someone, if they believe that the authority will accept responsibility for what happens. When these participants were reminded that they had responsibility for their own actions, almost none of them were prepared to obey.

I would argue we are in a similar situation now.

Most Kiwis do not support discrimination. Policies of discrimination therefore, should not exist. However, one exists here now, denying the Covid-vaccine-free the same rights as the Covid-vaccinated. The only reason it exists is because the majority of people obey, despite knowing discrimination is immoral. This obedience comes from believing the government will accept responsibility for this discrimination under the mandate. As you know though, governments come and go, times change and history is a very harsh judge on those who support discrimination, especially when recent research is showing the Covid-vaccinated are a significant source of transmission.

Perhaps Japans Ministry Of Health, Labour and Welfares Covid vaccination roll out is one that suits our country more than the current one.

Although we encourage all citizens to receive the COVID-19 vaccination, it is not compulsory or mandatory. Vaccination will be given only with the consent of the person to be vaccinated after the information provided. Please get vaccinated of your own decision, understanding both the effectiveness in preventing infectious diseases and the risk of side effects. No vaccination will be given without consent. Please do not force anyone in your workplace or those who around you to be vaccinated, and do not discriminate against those who have not been vaccinated.

Covid and the fear surrounding it will go away like it did for the bubonic plague from 1346-53, the 1918-20 Spanish Flu, HIV AIDS from 1981 onward, and the ten other global pandemics which most people do not even know about. What will be remembered is how people responded to it and which side they chose.

Unfortunately, we have chosen discrimination and history will not forget that.

Sincerely,David Clyne (changed from Klein after WWII)

Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.

Read more:

Dear New Zealand, it's time to end Covid discrimination - The Spectator Australia

As New Zealand, once again, enjoys a relatively normal summer, much of the world the UK, the US, France and Australia has seen staggering Omicron surges.

South Africa, where the variant seemingly emerged, has also seen unprecedented new highs, but cases have since fallen.

This week in Aotearoa a single Omicron case caught the public attention as the visiting DJ Dimension tested positive after leaving isolation before receiving the results of his day-9 test.

In his DJ Dimension press conference, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins spoke of keeping Omicron out as long as possible. The underlying message is clear: Omicron is inevitable.

As the variant spreads rapidly throughout the world, there are obvious questions: what does it mean for New Zealand? How prepared are we? How well do the vaccines hold up? Is it less severe? What numbers should you keep an eye on overseas to understand Omicron?

READ MORE:* Covid-19 NZ: The pro-choice argument against vaccines, explained* Covid 19 NZ: Why 'elimination' (inadvertently) kind of messed with our brains* Covid-19 NZ: Why the vaccines' imperfections matter

Most reporting on Omicron has been focused on case numbers, which is understandable. They're eye-watering. But they dont tell the full story.

There are clearly an awful lot of cases not being picked up. In New South Wales, for example, testing infrastructure is struggling to keep up with demand. And in the UK, researchers have said three quarters of all colds will be Covid. Got a sniffle? You probably have Covid-19.

Secondly, Delta is still out there. In the week ending December 18, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Omicron accounted for 73 per cent of cases in the US. It has since revised this down to 60 per cent, meaning many of those hospitalised in the US right now likely have the Delta variant.

Its still not clear what the future holds for Delta, by the way. It may well be displaced or vanquished. A small study out of South Africa suggests people with Omicron may have increased immunity against Delta.

Delta is falling in the UK at present but how much of that is the booster campaign and how much Omicron is difficult to judge, Professor Paul Hunter of the University of East Anglia told me.

On Thursday, there were 10,000 people in hospital with Covid-19 in England. There are a few things to keep in mind here, though.

The first is: are people in hospital with Covid or because of Covid? This is hard to untangle and something Stuff has reported on in New Zealand.

According to Chris Hopson, the head of NHS Providers, people need to be wary when interpreting UK hospital data.

Talking to trust chief executives this morning, whats very interesting is how many are talking about the number of asymptomatic patients being admitted to hospital for other reasons and then testing positive for Covid. Some are describing this as incidental Covid, he wrote on Twitter on December 28.

We should therefore be cautious about over-interpreting current raw Covid admission data. As Covid community infection rate rises rapidly due to Omicron, we will get more cases of this type of incidental Covid-19 in hospital. Raw data doesnt distinguish between the two.

Data from last week suggested about 30 per cent of Covid cases in UK hospitals were incidental. These numbers will vary by country. And remember, these cases can still put pressure on hospitals as patients need to be isolated.

Finally, there are ICU admissions and deaths. This will likely offer a clearer picture of the impact of Omicron but keep in mind people dont die of Covid (or end up in hospital) the day they get it. The lag to a death could be weeks.

In the UK, deaths and ICU admissions have held steady, but its too early to be sure if this will hold. Incomplete data over Christmas is also an issue.

Whats more, the majority of cases in the UK have been among younger people, who are much less likely to suffer severe Covid outcomes. However, it is concerning that cases in the elderly, who are at most risk, are seemingly on the rise.

Its also worth noting that while case numbers are unprecedented, there were more than 1000 people dying every day with Covid in the UK last winter. The UKs current totals are nowhere near those levels.

Hunter said itd be best to wait at least another week before reading too much into the UK data on the worst Covid outcomes.

No. Its not.

In early 2020 when Covid arrived in New Zealand, the entire population was naive (or susceptible) to the virus. This is why we called it novel.

Almost two years on, some 90 per cent of the eligible population is vaccinated. This matters above all else. Third doses are being rolled out to supplement immunity. Vaccines for children are imminent. Covid treatments are emerging. We have better testing. We know much more about the virus.

Whats more, Omicron appears to be less severe than its predecessors.

Sir John Bell, regius professor of medicine at Oxford University, said this week that Omicron is not the same disease we were seeing a year ago and high Covid death rates in the UK are now history.

For instance, people with the latest variant are 50 to 70 per cent less likely to need hospital care, according to UK Health Security Agency data, which compared it to Delta.

A new report from South Africa has found Omicron led to significantly less severe disease than Delta. But the authors warned: Care should be taken in extrapolating this to other populations.

This is good news. But untangling why Omicron appears less severe is tricky.

Is it because most people are now immune having had Covid or been vaccinated? Is it because the majority of cases are in young people?

Or is it intrinsically less severe? The UKs Imperial College has found that Omicron was somewhere between 0 and 30 per cent intrinsically less severe than Delta. This essentially means people who are unvaccinated or have never had an infection may face less chance of going to hospital with Omicron than its predecessor.

It may be, however, that the reason Omicron is less severe is that there are simply far more breakthrough infections. That is, the variant is excellent at infecting people who have been vaccinated and therefore have good protection against serious illness.

Fiona Goodall/Getty Images

People are tested at a pop-up Covid-19 testing station in Woodall Park car park in Narrowneck, Devonport.

Simply put, it may be infecting a lot of those people who may never have caught Delta, as that variant doesnt bypass the vaccines as effectively. And those vaccinated people are almost all going to end up being OK.

Or is it a mix of all of these?

Hunter explained that the mutations within Omicron primarily allow it to bypass the protection offered by antibodies essentially our first line of defence.

But the good news is the immune system has a range of different soldiers T cells, for one, which are much longer lasting.

There are very few mutations on those parts of the virus primarily targeted by cytotoxic T cells, and T cells are probably more important for protection against severe disease, Hunter says.

A pre-print study posted this week backed up this point, finding the protection offered by T cells, brought about by vaccination or infection, holds up very well to Omicron.

Unfortunately not. We still have the small percentage of a big number is still a big number issue.

A Scottish study that found a two-thirds reduction in hospitalisation notes: The combination of increased risk of transmission and immune evasion of Omicron mean that any advantage in reduced hospitalisation could potentially be exceeded by increased rates of infection in the community.

In a piece for The Age, epidemiologist Tony Blakely offered a good explanation of what this balancing act looks like.

With Delta, we expect something like 350 to 500 people in hospital on any given day following an announcement of 1000 new cases about two weeks prior. With Omicron, we are heading to something like 100 people in hospital on any given day for 1000 daily cases two weeks earlier.

He suggests 20,000 cases a day could translate to 2000 hospitalisations, and that may simply be too high for healthcare systems even though the newer variant produces less severe outcomes in infected individuals.

Peter Dejong/AP

People walk down a normally bustling shopping street in Amsterdam on Monday, December 20.

The NSW picture is vital to New Zealand. Their vaccination rates are comparable and neither New Zealand nor the Australian state have endured Covid case numbers comparable to Europe.

This is, paradoxically, now a weakness for New Zealand. Our success at keeping Covid-19 out may mean were more at risk.

At least in the UK and South Africa Omicron is rather less likely to put you into hospital than Delta, and probably even less likely to put you into an ICU bed though how much that will transfer to New Zealand is unclear with the much lower past infection rates you have had, Hunter says.

Covid hospitalisations are on the rise in NSW, as are ICU totals. Its also worth keeping in mind, as Blakely tells me, there will certainly be people in hospital in NSW with Delta. (Remember the lag).

Omicron moves incredibly quickly. According to a CDC analysis, it may only take three days for people to become contagious. With Delta, it was somewhere between four and six.

This, combined with the fact the variant is better than Delta at bypassing the protection the vaccines offer against infection, means its incredibly difficult to stop.

Kevin Stent/Stuff

Vaccinator Taylah Lardelli draws a dose of the Covid-19 vaccine at Pacific Health Plus, Porirua.

According to a UK analysis, two doses of the Pfizer vaccine are 60 per cent effective at stopping symptomatic Omicron in the first two to four weeks after vaccination. But that protection falls off to only 35 per cent after 10 weeks. A third dose bumps that back up to about 70 per cent, but that protection also seemingly wanes.

The report suggests two doses should offer good protection against severe disease. There are significant caveats around everything with Omicron, however. Were still learning about this variant.

In a Twitter thread, biology and biostatistics professor Professor Tom Wenseleers suggested the sheer speed at which Omicron moves may mean its peak is shorter, but much sharper.

This would still mean a huge number of cases but not necessarily over a long period of time. Again, well see.

The traffic light system was designed to support mass vaccination to control Delta case numbers. So far. its worked well. Because of the exceptional vaccination rates, case numbers have been kept in check. But things may change as our immunity wanes.

The Omicron reality is quite simple: New Zealands red light setting along with high vaccination rates (and an excellent booster roll-out) won't necessarily stop Omicron. Vaccines for children, along with a good booster roll-out supplemented by public health measures, will only slow it down.

New Zealand started by eliminating the virus, now its suppressing Delta, but it may be yet another new strategy is unavoidable, Professor Michael Baker told me.

He describes this as mitigation. It would simply mean doing what we can to keep hospitals from being overwhelmed.

Theres a cruel reality here. Eliminating Omicron is unrealistic. Even effective suppression or keeping numbers low will be incredibly taxing.

Baker is not being defeatist. Ideally, hed like to stop people being exposed to any coronavirus. But that may not be possible in 2022. And it may be that the costs of chasing tight suppression are too high (and not politically viable) particularly if Omicrons mildness holds up.

Well have a more complete picture in mid-January, Baker says.

Professor Michael Plank agreed. Depending on how the hospitalisation numbers and severity estimates pan out, he says, it may be that countries employ a range of measures like masking, capacity limits and working from home mandates to limit, but not stop, spread.

Essentially this means accepting Omicron but just spreading the huge case load over a longer time period, so hospitals can cope. You may recall the phrase: flatten the curve.

Baker said it would be optimum to keep Omicron out until were better prepared until the immunity gaps are plugged, until more vulnerable people have had their third vaccine dose. The Government clearly agrees.

In his piece in The Age, Blakely outlined what loose mitigation may look like in NSW or Victoria: about 10,000 cases every day. Thats probably manageable, he suggests.

Blakely points out there are a number of considerations at play whether a new better vaccine is imminent, and what Long Covid looks like after Omicron but it may be that a manageable number of cases of this variant is better in the long term.

Frank Augstein/AP

Shoppers crowd together at Covent Garden in London on Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2021.

First, if everyone is going to be exposed to Covid-19 at some point (which seems likely), then it would make sense for those who refuse to get vaccinated to take their chances with Omicron; the next variant may be more virulent again, he writes.

It may be that tight lockdowns put pressure on Omicron, but the question is: where does that leave us in the medium to long-term?

And as liberal writer Owen Jones points out in The Guardian, support for lockdown-like measures has disintegrated in the UK.

Overwhelming support for lockdown persisted for so long because there seemed to be a stable exit route: that mass vaccination of the population would protect the NHS from the menace of Covid-related collapse.

Now that certainty has evaporated an endgame no longer seems sure and the prospect of open-ended restrictions looms.

Consider what that means here: New Zealands first lockdown eliminated the virus. The 2021 lockdown failed to eliminate Delta but allowed mass vaccination. The end goal of another large-scale lockdown to slow down Omicron would be murky at best, and hugely politically challenging given the high vaccination rates. The Government has signalled it will only use lockdowns if absolutely necessary.

That said, University of Sydney epidemiologist Professor Alexandra Martiniuk suggested that tighter restrictions may be unavoidable. Too many cases could push countries into a corner where theyve no choice but to react.

You may have heard NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard warning the public that everybody should expect to get infected by the Omicron variant.

RHETT WYMAN/Sydney Morning Herald

New South Wales Health Minister Brad Hazzard.

Thats pretty gloomy, but is he wrong?

I asked Hunter, Plank and Martiniuk about this.

Basically he is correct, Hunter replied. Nothing in medicine is 100 per cent, but the large majority of people will get Omicron.

Martiniuk said she did not know. But wouldnt you rather delay getting it until a few years from now? Wouldnt you rather get it when there are better treatments and better vaccines?

Plank certainly doesnt agree with Hazzards messaging. He sees it as defeatist, but he acknowledges the minister probably has a point. The sheer speed at which the virus spreads, and the fact it evades vaccination, means that once it starts spreading its going to infect a lot of people although maybe not everyone.

But that doesn't mean you dont do anything to try and slow it down or stop it, Plank says, And there are still vulnerable groups, and we really need to keep those groups in mind.

Continued here:

Untangling what Omicron means for New Zealand's approach to the pandemic - Stuff.co.nz

Misha Gildenberger made the move to the Bay of Plenty to start minding puppies - a world away from her previous life in Auckland.

"I was super busy, I was working crazy hours, I was super busy. I was in advertising, so all of the projects we had had to speed up because of the pandemic and everything was a little bit hectic," she says.

When Gildenberger realised she had become "super stressed", she quit.

"Something clicked in my head and I said, 'Look, I really want to change the way that I am doing things right now'."

Originally from Argentina, she had run a shelter for dogs, so she decided to leave the super stressful super city and set up a dog training business in the Bay of Plenty.

"Honestly I'm really happy and it's going really, really well," she says.

Jarrod Haar, who is from the Department of Management at Auckland University of Technology and conducts a regular survey of worker intentions, says there are many drivers to why someone might quit.

"If you don't have a boss who loves you, if you don't like the organisation, if you're not paid enough money, those are kind of all the drivers. And now is the perfect time to go, 'OK, I'm going to throw it in and go and find somewhere else'," he says.

In May 2020, 35 percent of Kiwis surveyed intended to quit. By November 2021, that had risen to 52 percent.

"The highest I've ever seen, actually for the last two decades of looking at this kind of thing," Haar says.

In America, it's called the great resignation. Four million workers quit in August - nearly 3 percent of the entire workforce in one month.

Other workers decided to strike, thinking low unemployment meant better bargaining power.

There's no data yet on whether Kiwis are quitting, but it's definitely a workers' market.

"It's the most candidate-short market that we've ever seen. So that's still going to be a huge challenge," says Shannon Barlow from Frog Recruitment.

So what's behind it? COVID has compounded the skills shortage. Before the pandemic, net migration peaked at 90,000 new people. Now for the first time in eight years, it's turned negative, and that's reflected in an unemployment rate of just 3.4 percent. That means Christmas on the beach might not be that relaxing for bosses needing staff, even if the borders eventually open.

"We're still going to have those problems because we are just that little bit behind the rest of the world and particularly Australia," Barlow says.

March labour statistics will confirm if Kiwis are taking part in the great resignation, so the advice to bosses is to pay as much as you can afford and create a great work environment.

"The evidence is that if you are a good employer, you are going to keep your staff," Haar says.

For Gildenberger, it wasn't about the money, it was about doing something she loved.

"Super, super happy that I made that change."

See the original post:

More than half of New Zealand workers considering changing jobs in 2022 - Newshub

OneRoof: The most expensive places to live in New Zealand revealed. Video / OneRoof

Covid hasn't been kind to any of us over the past two years.

And if you've spent more than your fair share of time homeschooling the kids and running Zoom meetings from the dining table, it might be time to let your imagination run.

Think what it would be like to have a bigger house with a swimming pool for the kids to play in, or a home office with an actual desk to work on?

But why stop there what if money was no object?

Check out these properties of the top 1 per cent the sort of houses owned by Hollywood stars and business tycoons.

They're some of the flashest homes on sale in New Zealand right now places where you need never fear lockdown again.

This palatial, ivy-covered, Italian-inspired compound north of Tauranga has everything you need to stop you going stir crazy.

Behind its wrought-iron gates, manicured hedges and Roman columns are 2278sq m of spacious lawns and a floodlit court to play tennis or shoot hoops on.

There's also a lap pool and the chance to strip down for "hot yoga" while listening to your favourite tunes over the "award-winning" outdoor music system.

If that's not enough, Omokoroa Beach and its gorgeous harbour waters are nearby.

Should you need to pop out for the groceries, you can always call in the helicopter to land on the front lawn.

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You'll have to be ready to haggle as this one is selling by negotiation.

See the OneRoof listing here.

If you're a fan of the Omokoroa property's gated seclusion but don't want to leave Auckland, this listing near Titirangi in the city's west could be just the thing.

Sitting on its own promontory with gorgeous harbour views and forest cover for privacy, it's got a cool entry, with cars arriving down a covered drive lined with toga-clad statues.

Indoors, the "clever arced design based on points of the compass captures all-day sun".

There is a spiral staircase, mini-pond, glittering walk-in wardrobe and two separate bars to help you tackle the lockdown blues.

It's even got its own private boatshed to take advantage of the incredible waterside location.

The asking price? Nudging $9 million.

See the OneRoof listing here.

If you're the type of person who has their head in the clouds, check out the 178m-tall Pacifica building's "super penthouse".

As New Zealand's tallest apartment building, it's one of the few places in Auckland where you can see eye-to-eye with visitors to the Sky Tower viewing platform or take a hot tub while looking down at Rangitoto and the "ants" scurrying about the streets below.

With a $42m asking price, it will also be the most expensive home to sell in New Zealand should it go anytime soon.

New Zealand Sotheby's International Realty selling agent Pene Milne says the "stunningly beautiful" 360 degree views never cease to take her breath away.

The 1219sq m apartment also boasts five bedrooms and almost twice as many bathrooms along with its own library and a host of other fancy features.

And the 24-hour concierge service makes it that much easier to order in without having to set foot on the pandemic-riddled pavements below.

See the OneRoof listing here.

Should you find the last three properties excessive, try this Devonport home for size.

Understated and beautiful, it has a secret weapon when it comes to beating the lockdown blues: Cheltenham Beach is virtually at the back door.

"Open your gate, cross the lawn and feel the warm sensation of the golden sand between your toes or sit on your deck with friends and enjoy the spectacular views," the marketing material states.

Inside there are no wine cellars or media rooms, just open-plan spaces that take in the sea views, wooden floorboards, easy walks to primary schools and plenty of other simple family pleasures.

Price by negotiaton.

See the OneRoof listing here.

When it comes to statement homes, Ponatahi House in Martinborough, north of Wellington, is among the country's most notable.

The architecturally designed property is often referred to as The House Wrapped in Literature, according to its selling agents.

That's because the exterior walls are encased in 120 glass panels, each containing words from a poem.

Who needs a library when you can read the walls?

The house also has seven bedrooms, a guesthouse, 101sq m home office, lap pool, garage workshop, jetty and tennis court. From the lawn helipad it's a 15-minute flight to the capital.

It also boasts a romantic backstory - courtesty of John Milsome Jury and his Maori princess bride Te Aitu-o-te-rangi.

Apparently Jury, an English whaling ship crewman, met chieftain's daughter Te Aitu when she had been taken prisoner by another tribe.

Falling in love during a series of fleeting encounters, the pair escaped together under cover of darkness, evading capture and eventually returning to Te Aitu's traditional lands near the Ruamahanga River.

"Today Ponatahi House is located close to the Ruamahanga River near where John and Te Aitu's descendants have farmed for generations," the home's official website states.

The price on this is up for negotiation too.

See the OneRoof listing here.

Continued here:

Luxury living: The flashest homes for sale in New Zealand right now - New Zealand Herald

Auckland welcomes in the new year with a light show.Video / Auckland Unlimited / Vector

NZ has farewelled an incredibly difficult year. There are challenges ahead, but Kiwis have proven they can rise to them

Bring on 2022. New Zealand is set to swelter in scorching temperatures with the mercury hitting as high as 30C today, as we welcome in the new year.

As the sun rises, the year 2021, one of recent history's most memorable for many of the wrong reasons, will be cast into its long white cloud shadow.

Although we started last year Covid-free an anomaly, down the bottom of the world we ended with acute lockdown fatigue, abandoning an admirably ambitious elimination strategy, and the virus living among us.

Omicron now looms large, though experts give some hope it could be less deadly and more manageable than previous variants.

We cling to that hope. Auckland endured 107 days in lockdown during the Delta outbreak, while other pockets of the nation did their bit to also break the cycle.

Last night, celebrations were muted around the country. Auckland's normally bustling city centre was quiet as Covid restrictions forced the cancellation of the popular fireworks spectacle off the Sky Tower. Instead a light show from the bridge illuminated up the city.

The sound of fireworks could be heard as people chose to gather with family and friends instead of in the bars and clubs.

The Covid restrictions of 2021 tested the resilience and resolve of all Kiwis, who dug deep to protect themselves and their neighbours.

We have done well. But there is more to do.

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Yet, there is little stomach for further suffocating restrictions and widespread working-from-home in 2022.

And it hasn't been all doom and gloom. Amid the fear, anger, anti-vaccination and freedom cries, there were bright spots to keep our spirits up.

Our Covid-19 case numbers, hospitalisations, and deaths pale into insignificance compared with many other countries, including our friends across the Tasman.

Reaching 91.8 per cent double vaccinations helped by the Herald and NZME's 90% Project launched in September was probably our biggest achievement last year. Take a bow, New Zealand.

It means that we're well-positioned to cope with coronavirus and get back some semblance of normal New Zealand life.

A phased reopening of international borders should begin next month for fully vaccinated travellers, if Omicron allows.

In other impressive achievements last year, the Tokyo Olympics gave New Zealand its greatest medal haul.

Lisa Carrington became the nation's most decorated Olympic athlete after winning a remarkable three golds and yesterday became a Dame as did world-beating Paralympian Sophie Pascoe, who scooped double Tokyo gold.

We defended the America's Cup and became inaugural world test cricket champions after beating powerhouse India.

The All Blacks, however, suffered a forgettable campaign, and under-fire coach Ian Foster will be desperate to get things back on track in 2022. New Zealanders will hope he does too; it will help life seem a bit more normal. Like the good old times.

Read the original post:

Happy New Year! Kiwis ring in 2022 - New Zealand Herald

A science superhero with pink hair wages war on Covid-19 to convince an entire nation to lockdown. Made with funding from NZ On Air. Video / Loading Docs

Two of the nation's most well-known Covid-19 experts have filed complaints against the University of Auckland, arguing that their employer hasn't taken enough steps to protect them against "a small but venomous sector of the public" that has become increasingly "unhinged".

Professors Shaun Hendy and Siouxsie Wiles have already scored a preliminary victory in the employment stoush. The Employment Relations Authority has agreed that a review of their concerns should be expedited - skipping the authority's sometimes lengthy investigative process and instead going directly to the Employment Court, despite objections from the university.

The same ruling also orders the University of Auckland to pay the professors' legal fees to date.

"The Authority is concerned about the uncontested evidence that the harassment is escalating and is expected to continue to do so," authority member Rachel Larmer wrote in a decision issued on Christmas Eve. "The issues associated with the vaccination of children aged 5-11 years of age is already a topic that has stirred up increased vitriol towards the applicants."

Hendy, whose data-modelling expertise has been credited with having influenced the nation's Covid-19 response, and microbiologist Wiles, a science communicator who was named the 2021 New Zealander of the Year in part for helping to "make the science of the pandemic clear and understandable", first filed complaints in July.

Both experts say they've been raising concerns about their safety and have been requesting the university to help protect them since April 2020, shortly after the pandemic began. The university, they argue, has either responded inadequately or not at all.

"Associate Professor Wiles has been the subject of doxing with an associated threat to physically confront her at her home," the judgment states. "Professor Hendy has been physically confronted in his office on the university campus by an individual who threatened to 'see him soon'.

"The applicants have suffered vitriolic, unpleasant, and deeply personalised threats and harassment that has had a detrimental impact on them in terms of their physical safety and from a psychological, mental health and wellbeing perspective. The level of harassment they are facing is continuing and has been getting worse and 'more extreme' in nature."

As academics, it is part of their job requirements to share their expertise with the public, and in turn it is the university's job to make sure they are safe in doing so, they have argued. New Zealand law encourages academic freedom in which they act as the "critic and conscience of society" and "promote community learning", they said.

But in a written response to Wiles and Hendy in August, the university suggested they address the safety concerns by keeping their public commentary to a minimum. University officials also suggested they take paid leave to enable them "to minimise any social media comments at present".

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While the two have every right to provide public commentary on the pandemic, they are not "expected" or required to do so, the university has told the Employment Relations Authority.

Wiles and Hendy said the suggestion was unreasonable.

"The applicants note that they have previously been asked by the (university) and the Prime Minister's Office to provide such commentary, in their roles as employees ..." the ruling noted.

The academics also disputed any suggestion they have been targeted for "outside activities" other than their work on Covid-19.

"Neither applicant experienced harassment like what they have received since theybegan publicly communicating about the Covid-19 pandemic," the Employment Relations Authority document states. "They point out that the harassment they are receiving has worsened since the anti-lockdown and anti-vaccination protests have ramped up, and note that these activists have become more emboldened over time."

In the months since the initial complaints, Auckland University has ordered an external security review which found "opportunities for improvement" regarding the professors' digital and physical security. But the university's timeframe for implementing the suggestions is staggered throughout 2022, the academics noted, adding that they can't wait a year.

The Employment Relations Authority agreed that the matter should be decided sooner rather than later.

The complainants have "laid a solid evidential foundation", Larmer wrote in her ruling, that the professors have been subjected to extensive threats, harassment and abuse, "some of which appear on the face of it to be 'unhinged'".

She also noted a "significant public interest" in Wiles, Hendy and other experts being able to "publicly communicate about issues of public importance that arise from and/or are associated with the current pandemic".

"Constraining or stopping their public communications on Covid-19 related matters, as recommended by the respondent, will deprive the public of the benefit of their expertise during the current pandemic," she wrote, adding that "further delay is undesirable in the face of the apparently escalating safety risks".

But she also noted that if the professors' academic freedom position is upheld by the court, "then that will have a serious impact on how the (university) applies its limited resources, in circumstances where the pandemic has already created a fiscal deficit for the respondent".

The authority noted that employment relationship problems should generally be first investigated by the agency, with parties then able to appeal to the Employment Court after the process is completed. The university argued, unsuccessfully, that sending the issue straight to the Employment Court is unfair because it reduces the opportunities to appeal.

The Employment Court registry remains closed for Christmas until Wednesday, at which point the next steps in the employment dispute can be determined.

See more here:

Shaun Hendy, Siouxsie Wiles file complaint against University of Auckland - New Zealand Herald