Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! We can tell you that it is a great day – as ours is ending even as it is just beginning in the US.
We have had a restful Sunday, with a walk to church this morning and a brief visit to an Artisans Market on the walk back home. The photo and story of the church are in “yesterdays” blog post – because technical issues delayed that post until early this afternoon.
Frances took a walk along the lakeshore path this afternoon and passed by a local vineyard. Jim rested a sore knee and watched Prada cup races between Ineos UK and Luna Rossa Italy. Italy is now ahead 4-0 in the best of 13 series.
The big news of the day in NZ (eN Zed) is the discovery of three community COVID-19 cases in the Auckland area (all in one family). So there are now three known cases in the entire country outside of the managed isolation facilities at the border. It is not yet known where or how they caught it. “Out of an abundance of caution” the response has been immediate. The Auckland area is now moved to level 3 – restrictions on travel, stay home and work from home if you can, schools and public venues are closed, wear a mask in public, and gathering are limited to 10 people or fewer. The rest of the country is moved to level 2 – maintain 2 meter distance and wearing a mask if you can’t maintain distance is recommended. Gatherings are limited to 100. (More details on levels can be found at https://covid19.govt.nz/alert-system/about-the-alert-system/ ) The alert level changes are for three days and will be reviewed daily. (We watched it on the news, but also got an alert on our phones.)
The entire country was at Level 1 – basically a “be careful, be alert, and be prepared” level. In addition to higher levels: the dates, times, and places visited by the three people is published on the Ministry of Health (MIH) website. Anyone who might have had contact with them should isolate, watch for symptoms, and contact MIH about getting tested. One of the positive cases is a high school student. Her school is closed, classes are moved to online, and a pop-up testing site has been established there overnight to test students, parents, and teachers. (All in less than 24 hours.) Genomic testing of the virus should be available before tomorrow morning to determine the likely source. Many close contacts of the family have already returned negative tests.
It is possible that the higher levels may be extended beyond three days, but three days gives the government time to do contact tracing, extensive testing, and identify the likely source – and prevent spread in the meantime. Once they know exactly what they are dealing with, they will adjust.
All this was announced on TV in a press conference by the Prime Minister and the Director General of Health working together. The teamwork and the competence are inspiring. We have confidence that this will be handled promptly and thoroughly.
Nothing is a better antidote to COVID news than scenes of natural beauty. Here is the picture of the day over our lake.
Happy Valentines Day to all!