The Dirty Dozen and Dahlias

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics newsletter.

You'll no doubt be aware that the travel bubble with Australia was announced last week, and from next week people travelling between the two countries will have the benefit of not having to go into a quarantine facility for two weeks before being allowed to wander free in New Zealand.

This has affected me personally. My wife is currently in Australia visiting family and was due to return next weekend to then enter MIQ. Fortunately she's been able to change her flights to return a day later when the bubble opens instead. Reflecting on her time in Australia she reports that there's an app that Australians can use to track their movements (similar to our COVID tracer) but it's not widely used nor are businesses commonly displaying the codes to scan. We can only hope that the travel bubble works out and that we're not plunged back into isolation again by less-than-strict policies on the other side of the Tasman.

The pandemic rages on throughout the rest of the world, and while vaccine rollouts are helping, we're collectively not out of the woods yet, and less privileged countries are having an even harder time of it.

With those cheery thoughts out of the way, I wish you a great week!