After finally opening up their borders again, New Zealand’s cases have started to rise. On Tuesday the cases hit a record breaking 24,000, this shows how much the states stance on the virus has changed. The opposition leader Christopher Luxon has reported that he has become infected with the virus. The virus has also spread through the student and faculty population at Victoria University of Wellington, which is taking a toll not only on their wellbeing but also students’ mental health. The virus has also had a strain on the food supply system throughout the quarantined halls, only providing some protein drinks or pieces of cold meats. In the city of Auckland, the virus has started to plateau or even start to dip. The ministry of health public health director Dr. McElnay, said the rising number of infected has caused a relaxation in the rules in hospitals, workers with the virus are only allowed to work with patients who already had it if there is no other way.
With the borders being reopened in New Zealand I feel that it can definitely help the economy, even though it does not help. Also New Zealand has been the most cautious when it comes to COVID, it is nice to see that if they are reopening then it seems almost as if the world is close to being back to normal. Though with the rise in cases it is very clear that we are not. I feel that with such an increase in cases in such a short time span, it might warrant a reclosure of the borders. This is because the healthcare workers and hospitals are being overrun so much to the point they are having doctors that either have or have had COVID work with some of the influx of patients.
It is in the country’s national interest to reopen the bordes. With open borders it allows for an influx of people, like tourists and family members to be reunited. Though the tourism aspect is the national interest part. With the borders open the tourism industry can rise along with the economy. Though it is also in the country’s national interest to close the borders as well. With the closed borders, they can control the number of cases easier. And the influx of cases could increase to help the healthcare workers and dampen the food shortage at hospitals around the country.