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Thread 1/ My wife and I moved to New Zealand in 2018 after working in Philadelphia for 20+ years. It was supposed to be a pre-retirement gig, working as locum GP’s in a rural service town. (Shoutout to @TararuaDistrict.) NZ is rural...
2/and Tararua district is among the more rural areas of the North Island. There are no stop lights in our district, despite being the size of Delaware. Farming is the thing here, as it is in much of NZ. I’ve learned about sheep farming, and sheep farming families. (more)
3/I’ve also learned about Kiwis generally – the people not the bird. They are tougher and more self reliant than folk in the US. They value the outdoors and those who protect it. They are generous, friendly, and welcoming. (more)
4/ They value honesty and integrity and have applied these in coming to terms with their colonial past. While the result to date isn’t perfect, that it’s happened at all and how it’s happened, says much about their collective desire for a just culture. Add to this...(more)
5/their rational social welfare system, their right sized emphasis on local business development, and the most beautiful natural setting in the world, and you understand why we signed on for additional time. We love it. Which is why we were in NZ when COVID-19 hit. (more)
6/NZ’s response from the start was a master class in communication. It has been clear, consistent, human, and responsive. Which combined with the characteristics of kiwis noted above explains NZ’s low case counts. Kiwis get just get it done. [ https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-current-situation/covid-19-current-cases(more)] (more)
7/We’re back in the US temporarily where there’s no clear consistent message, meaning cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are...uh....higher. Active disinformation and a lack of science advised leadership is a stark contrast to what we lived during NZ's hard lockdown. (more)
8/So we return next week where we'll enter mandatory isolation, and our only current question is how long we'll stay once there. Our extended US family is an attractant, but we have to stay in a bubble here to feel at all safe given the prevalence of COVID. (more)
9/With US schools opening I have a bad feeling that rates will rise further. If there's a bright light it's that we love our work and colleagues in NZ, and are heartened that the transnational crime syndicate currently in the White House has only 89 DAYS. (End)
