“The continuation of Auckland’s lockdown is a costly disappointment that could have been avoided with ACT’s wellbeing approach,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“If the wellbeing lens had been applied, the Government would have spent the past 102 days preparing to protect the vulnerable, rather than declaring 'mission accomplished'.

“The Government and its cheerleaders want to compare our response with the worst in the world, rather than learning from the best in the world – such as Taiwan, to see how we can improve and better keep Kiwis safe.

“It should have been enhancing our contact tracing. Instead, it’s only become compulsory for businesses to have a QR Code displayed this week. This should have been in place long before now. The real cost is uncertainty. Who would invest in a business now when the Government might shut it down at any moment?

“Auckland would have watched the Prime Minister’s hour-long lecture at lunchtime with huge disappointment, knowing the Government hadn’t done enough to let them out of lockdown early.”

ACT’s wellbeing plan includes:

• A multi-disciplinary Epidemic Response Centre
• Government as a referee, not player: Allow alternative isolation where safe and be electronically monitored; strict punishment for rule-breakers
• A risk-weighted response: treat different countries and travellers with different levels of caution
• A technology-driven response: use innovations such as the COVID Card, GPS locatable cell phones and Datamine’s ëlarm.

“Critically, ACT’s approach would ensure businesses could continue to operate, students could continue to learn and we don’t have the stress of constant lockdowns looming over us."

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