Articles tagged with "covid-19"

On March 21st my Facebook feed brought up the following dire warning:

In the good news department, Billy Te Kahika and Vinny Eastwood, professional conspiracy theory grifters, who organised protests during the Covid lockdowns in August last year, have now been found guilty of intentionally failing to comply with the Covid-19 Public Health Response Act.

I think we have cause to celebrate. Despite not knowing what 2022 will bring, Aotearoa/New Zealand has a pretty high rate of vaccination - with over 91% of the eligible population having received two doses, though with Maori still under 80%.

Covid-19 The Pandemic That Should Never Have Happened - by Debra MacKenzie 2020 (available on Amazon)

If you're a regular reader of our weekly newsletter you'll know by now that we're running a conference in conjunction with the Australian Skeptics. Because of COVID-19 restrictions we made the decision to run it entirely online.

The drug Ivermectin is an anti-parasite drug (used on worms and head-lice), and has been touted as a treatment for COVID-19. On the anti-vaxx Facebook groups I monitor, it's frequently cited as the favoured treatment for COVID-19, along the same lines as Hydroxychloroquine - though that seems to have faded a little now.

As no doubt everyone will be aware by now, there's been community transmission of COVID-19 in Auckland. Back to Level 3 for Auckland, and Level 2 for the rest of the country. Let's hope this is over with quickly, and doesn't get out of hand. Best wishes to everyone involved, and keep scanning and checking in!

There were many false claims made on 14th January, by Billy Te Kahika and his supporters outside the Beehive in Wellington. The most dangerous claim was that Covid-19 is no more deadly than the flu (2 million people have died worldwide at the time of writing). Among other strange things, they claimed that Jacinda Ardern is a communist who wants to keep putting New Zealand into lockdown, including organising one again on 15th January, the day after the protest.

As you'll no doubt know, 2020 ended seeing the successful and record-setting development of a range of vaccines for COVID-19 from various companies.

Dr. Siouxsie Wiles wrote on twitter recently about a NZ Herald article which wondered if New Zealand's response to the pandemic was an overreaction. While pointing out that she hadn't read the article (it was pay-walled) she said “But if the answer isn't a resounding NO WE DIDNT then the piece is insulting, ridiculous, disappointing, & dangerous”.

Skeptic summary: Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel says people with an Asian background are staying at home to avoid racist comments from people assuming they might be carrying coronavirus (Covid-19). This is the harm of misinformation, and a reminder again that we can't be smug and think New Zealand don't have a racisim problem. It does.