Many thanks to @elle_hunt for talking w/me about waiting out COVID in NZ.

Watching the rest of the world from NZ is like watching a horror movie. You know when you about "don't go in the creepy basement!" at the screen? It's like that, but real life. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/01/a-golden-ticket-the-tourists-who-sat-out-coronavirus-in-new-zealand?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

COVID horror film scenes:
My friend who just arrived in the UK is in quarantine. "And I'm going out to get takeaways later," he says.

Me: But you're in QUARANTINE!

Him: Yeah, but you can leave for takeaways or grocery shopping.

COVID is still contagious at grocery stores! 2/x

LA friends: We're in a hard lockdown!
Me: Oh good, that will help.
Them: Malls can only be at 20% capacity!
Me: "Hard lockdown." These words do not mean what you think they mean. 3/x

London friend: Well, until this new virus variant we were doing really well.
Me: *looks at mortality numbers* *thinks this is British sarcasm* *realizes it's not* *is speechless*
4/x

New York colleague: We got together for Thanksgiving, but all 14 of us were really safe!
Me: *covers eyes, waits for horror*
NY colleague 4 wks later: I had to leave the Christmas party because my COVID test came back positive in the middle of it.
Me: There it is.
5/x

I am so sorry for everyone who has to live thru this. Things are normal here and that gives us the chance to see what works, and what works fastest.
1. Lockdown. Not some bullshit "malls at 20% capacity, nail salons open" thing. The more you lock down, the faster it's over. 6/x

NZ did a hard lockdown (Level 4) for 33 days. Only grocery stores and drugstores were open. Everyone stayed home. After a couple of weeks, COVID slowed.

Next, restaurants opened for takeaways for 2 weeks. Then life returned to normal because COVID was gone. 7/x

Melbourne's hardest lockdown let hairdressers and takeaways stay open. It lasted 111 days.

2. Contact tracing. People check in when they enter shops or other businesses. They can be notified and quarantine quickly if a COVID-infected person was there. 8/x

NZ had another brief outbreak in Auckland. Because of contact tracing, everyone exposed was tracked down and able to quarantine so they didn't infect others. Level 3 in Auckland only for 2 weeks. And then everything was back to normal. 9/x

3. Infected people get quarantine support. This is crucial. If you're infected, someone does your grocery shopping & brings u food. Yes, even if you're asymptomatic. In some countries ur locked in your home; in others you stay at a hotel if you don't need hospitalization. 10/x

4. Infection control at the border. Every incoming person has to quarantine for 14 days. Yes, 14 (so many people at the border in NZ test positive on day 12!) And real quarantine, as above. You don't leave, someone brings you food. No going out for takeaways.
11/x

5. Masks. If there is infection in your locale, wear a mask in public until the region is COVID-free. We did here in NZ during Levels 4 and 3. It helps.

6. Listen to scientists. Dr. Ashley Bloomfield and @SiouxsieW here in NZ have been great communicators. Ppl trust them. 12/x

No piece works alone. It's like trying to get fit. You can't just stop eating cookies and then wonder why your muscles don't grow, or just do bicep curls and wonder why you can't run a 4-minute mile. You have to do all the pieces.

And have zero tolerance for the virus. /end