Comments by "Laurence Fraser" (@laurencefraser) on "South China Morning Post" channel.

@icefrost5355 yes, sadly, New Zealand does have this sort of idiot as well. One of the up sides of having a low population is that low percentages are actually still small numbers though, so they can generally be put in the same box as the Actual communists and the republicans: utterly irrelevant.
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Hence why no one is talking about opening the borders any time soon. Do note, we're so far away from pretty much anywhere that any freight traveling by ship hasn't been touched by a human in weeks. The border is only closed to travelers, not freight. Our tourism industry's going to get hammered, mind you.
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... given that that is not, in fact, what has been said? Not really. That we probably can, and are on track to do so? Yes. That community transmission has been brought to a halt? Yes. That the whole thing is done and beaten? A significant chunk of every address, near enough, has been emphasising that that is Not the case. That we can Not afford to rush to end restrictions before we are Sure (the two weeks isn't until the end of level 3, its until the government will have enough information to make an informed decision about whether or not it needs to continue.) Certainly, the borders aren't going to open back up for a Long time yet.
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For clarity: New Zealand has one of the highest per-capita testing rates in the world. Tests anyone showing symptoms, anyone who's been in contact with those who returned a positive result, anyone entering the country, a few other groups I forget right now, and has recently been doing mostly-random testing (in that it was basically 'anyone who showed up at these supermarkets on this day') in the areas where undetected spread was most likely.
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To be fair, New Zealand does have a lot of advantages in such a situation. None of which would have been enough if the leadership mismanaged the situation, mind you.
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... might want to have a look at the actual situation in New Zealand. Also note that a significant portion of her message (when you see the full thing, though even just of what is shown here) is Specifically Making That Point. Community transmission is something we're on top of and have essentially (or possibly fully, I'm not up to date) eliminated. That is a battle won. And that's All that's been won. The war, so to speak, is ongoing, and that's something the PM has emphasised with pretty much every bit of positive news that could lead one to think otherwise.
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New Zealand isn't going to be back to normal for quite some time yet. Level 3 is still pretty restrictive, and then there's all the economic aspects to deal with, if nothing else.
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... hence the whole 'not opening the border' thing. Also, level 3 is still pretty restrictive. Travel is still limited. RNZ had a bunch of videos of the measures businesses are having to take in order to operate (also proving the advice that masks are generally not worth the effort for the general population. Not because they don't work when used properly, but because most people Don't use them properly.)
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... might want to rephrase that, New Zealand is rather a long way away from Asia.
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It's not that surprising, no (though the reasons you list are actually barely relevant). But it could Easily have gone otherwise with less competent leadership.
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