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I need to get something off my chest about @FlyAirNZ and their attitude to masks... so here’s a 
#covid19nz
#covid19nz
In NZ, legally we have to wear a mask on internal flights. It has felt to me like @FlyAirNZ have never taken this requirement seriously, as they’ve continued offering food & drink. And that means people take their masks off during the flight to eat and drink.
This makes me really angry, as they got a massive bail out from the government to keep them viable & so surely in return they should be doing their bit for our team of 5 million
And they are only serving a cookie or some chips. It’s not like we can’t survive the hour or two without them.
I’ve sent feedback a few times questioning their food and drink policy on internal flights but have never had a response
Fast forward to this week, less then 2 weeks from the recent COVID-19 cases identified in the community. And @FlyAirNZ are STILL serving food and drink on internal flights! WTF?!
Then yesterday a new paper gets published by the Plan B boys, arguing for a loosening of our border restrictions. It’s part funded by @FlyAirNZ
What’s fascinating is that the paper uses the mathematical models developed by @PunahaMatatini researchers. But @FlyAirNZ didn’t contact @hendysh & colleagues to do the work. They paid the people who’ve been against our elimination strategy & are STILL arguing against it!
They paid the people who think we should learn to “live with the virus”, which lets be clear, means lots of people getting sick, some of them dying, and likely leaving others with long term health problems.
They paid the people who’ve been cherry-picking & misrepresenting data.
I’m super disappointed by the lack of leadership shown by @FlyAirNZ during this pandemic. It’s only because we followed Plan A and not Plan B that we are even able to safely fly internally right now. Yet they continue to undermine our public health messaging. Shame on them.
To clarify: looks like @FlyAirNZ didn't fund the Plan B academics directly - that was Auckland International Airports Limited. They funded this study by having one of their staff as an author. I still find it mind-boggling that Air NZ would align with the Plan B group.
You can catch up on some of the expert reactions to their paper thanks to the @smcnz here: https://www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/2021/02/05/relaxing-border-restrictions-by-arrival-country-expert-reaction/
And popping this here: a good thread from @hendysh on the paper itself and some of the tricks the authors are employing https://twitter.com/hendysh/status/1357796421404033024
Ok, apologies to @FlyAirNZ - perhaps you didn't realise someone on your payroll had aligned with the Plan B academics to do this work funded by Auckland International Airport. I'm still pissed you serve food and drink while its mandatory to wear masks on internal flights.
Important related thread if you are reading this one: https://twitter.com/siouxsiew/status/1357816974269554688
