China's continued zero-tolerance of coronavirus could be the reason why New Zealand is now experiencing record fatalities due to exposure to a weak strain of Omicron. The nation is vulnerable because it has been covered with a thick “blanket” from the whole world for too long.
For nearly two years, New Zealand has professed a zero-tolerance Chinese attitude towards the coronavirus. For example, with several cases of infection, entire cities and the whole country could be quarantined until the complete disappearance of new infections. For a while, this contributed to the fact that New Zealand, isolated from all mankind, did not encounter any outbreaks until the Omicron virus arrived in the country. It turned out to be so contagious that it was no longer possible to contain the incidence with the previous methods, and New Zealand opened up, relying on large-scale vaccination.
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However, now the weekly fatality in the country has already reached 151 people. During the previous nightmarish outbreak in March, that figure was 115 per week, according to health ministry statistics. This means that now the death rate in New Zealand is twice as high as in the UK and four times higher than in the US, if you compare the population. Over the past 24 hours, all 26 deaths have occurred among New Zealanders over 60 – this is the group most vulnerable to coronavirus.
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The BA.2 strain is the dominant strain in the island nation, with 64,780 more people infected last week, although the true numbers are much higher, according to authorities . For a long time, geographic isolation and hard lockdowns kept New Zealand out of the pandemic, but now it's paying too high a price, perhaps because of this approach. (READ MORE)