👍👏 Interesting article - I appreciate this approach to problems because it is how I think too! How lucky we were in Aotearoa to have the expertise we had available to interpret the evolving evidence & be able to advise options & outcomes to the govt at a time of great uncertainty on how to manage COVID 19 around the world. The international data shows that not only did we have less deaths from COVID than most other countries, but our overall deaths from respiratory etc illness also went down, so although I have the utmost sympathy for those whose loved ones died away from family & friends, many more would have died if NZ had followed other countries rather than go with science & evidence 🤷 Unfortunately I don't know how we put the Genie back in the bottle in the anti-science, mis/disinformation realm - I guess watching the increase of preventable disease under the current USA regime MIGHT break through ⁉️
Thanks Cindy. We were certainly lucky compared to most other countries in terms of the advice and decision-making. I was often frustrated with critics who were clearly thinking that the alternative to lockdowns was life going on as normal, because that's not what would have happened. Shaun makes some comparisons to Sweden, which didn't do any hard lockdowns and was held up as a model by certain factions who would have been happy to sacrifice more lives. The reality is that the Swedish population spent 2 years in something between our level 2 and level 3, and their students missed more schooling as schools simply couldn't function with so many people sick. And, of course, they lost a lot of people.
The whole situation with mis- and disinformation, as well as hateful rhetoric, is currently being supercharged by the US. My solution is better human connections. Evidence-based information has to come with empathy and compassion. Also, everyone should join iNaturalist so that they can become more aware of their environment and interact with scientists.
Nice one Melanie.
Thanks Jean.
👍👏 Interesting article - I appreciate this approach to problems because it is how I think too! How lucky we were in Aotearoa to have the expertise we had available to interpret the evolving evidence & be able to advise options & outcomes to the govt at a time of great uncertainty on how to manage COVID 19 around the world. The international data shows that not only did we have less deaths from COVID than most other countries, but our overall deaths from respiratory etc illness also went down, so although I have the utmost sympathy for those whose loved ones died away from family & friends, many more would have died if NZ had followed other countries rather than go with science & evidence 🤷 Unfortunately I don't know how we put the Genie back in the bottle in the anti-science, mis/disinformation realm - I guess watching the increase of preventable disease under the current USA regime MIGHT break through ⁉️
Thanks Cindy. We were certainly lucky compared to most other countries in terms of the advice and decision-making. I was often frustrated with critics who were clearly thinking that the alternative to lockdowns was life going on as normal, because that's not what would have happened. Shaun makes some comparisons to Sweden, which didn't do any hard lockdowns and was held up as a model by certain factions who would have been happy to sacrifice more lives. The reality is that the Swedish population spent 2 years in something between our level 2 and level 3, and their students missed more schooling as schools simply couldn't function with so many people sick. And, of course, they lost a lot of people.
The whole situation with mis- and disinformation, as well as hateful rhetoric, is currently being supercharged by the US. My solution is better human connections. Evidence-based information has to come with empathy and compassion. Also, everyone should join iNaturalist so that they can become more aware of their environment and interact with scientists.
Good science communicators are the new prophets (not profits)!
Yes, although I hope that it's more of a conversation with science communicators.