20,000 people in New Zealand attend biggest concert since lockdown

[Ome]

If only the leaders of our small island had taken the virus seriously last year.





Thousands of music fans went to a concert in Waitangi, New Zealand on Saturday (January 16) for what was the biggest single gig since the coronavirus pandemic began.



New Zealand has managed to tackle and contain the virus so effectively that its alert level sits at one, with only a few imported cases or isolated local cases occurring (it currently has fewer than 80 active cases). This has meant that mass gatherings without social distancing have been able to run since the end of last year.


The concert in question was the first of Six60’s six-date nationwide summer tour. Up to 20,000 people attended the concert at the outdoor show in Waitangi. As Metro reports, concertgoers came into close contact with one another and didn’t need to wear masks.

 

[Angela Channing]

That could have been us. We had the advantage of being an island like New Zealand so we could have stopped international travel to stop importing Covid into our country, implemented an effective test and trace system to stop the virus from spreading and we could been going to Glastonbury this summer to watch British artists performing. Instead we are all stuck at home while our country is recording the highest death rates per capita in the whole world.

 

[Barbara Fan]

There is a Huge difference in population size though

NZ is the best country i have ever visited but its only got about 5 million people and far more sheep! There are more people in London and suburbs than the whole of the country.

My friends parents are still stuck in Oz - but there are worse places to be "stuck"

Even if i lived in NZ now there is no way on earth I would go to a concert with 20000 and i wonder what the fall out from that will be??

 

[Angela Channing]

The issues are broadly the same just on a different scale. The UK has a larger population and is wealthier and so should be better resourced to put in an effective test and trace system.

Instead Boris Johnson and his Tory government wasted £22 billion of our money on a failed test and trace system. He chose to give the money to his friends and party donors even though they had no experience in the area so the failure was inevitable. He kept the borders open because the aviation industry donate millions took the Conservative Party.

New Zealand closed their borders early to stop people bringing covid in from other countries and put in place an effective test, trace and isolate system and as a result they have been able to control the virus so its citizens can lead a near normal life.

When governments corruprly act to benefit their friends and donors above the needs of their people the result is the worst covid death rates in the entire world.

 

[Sarah]

I'm having trouble understanding even with successful containment/track and trace etc, how it is a good idea to have 20,000 people at a concert. What if some of these people are carriers? Super spreaders who show no symptoms?

 

[DallasFanForever]

I don’t think anything could make me go to a concert with 20,000 people right now no matter what the Covid situation in that country is. I think it’s just too soon for this