Letter of the week: Emma Roxburgh, Meadowbank.
John Roughan (Weekend Herald, August 28) indicates he is hankering for a holiday. We all sympathise.
However, his statement that the projected 1030 annual deaths from Delta – were New Zealand to freely open its borders after 90 per cent vaccination of the population
– "is roughly the toll from flu over two years", is disingenuous and dangerous.
The implication is that deaths from flu are acceptable. Deaths from flu are not acceptable. There has been a serious push in recent years by health authorities to educate New Zealanders to the dangers of flu, and efforts to more fully vaccinate against flu viruses are ongoing.
It's also easy to write in a sunny manner about "only" 11,400 hospital cases and 1030 deaths. But those numbers represent people.
Yes, we do have to accept there will be casualties but we must remember that those losses are never nameless or faceless; they are people we love.
Finally, as our country - not yet near vaccinated to 90 per cent levels - to have a grumble about a situation that does not yet exist, is a serious disappointment.
Moral responsibility
It is the moral responsibility of this country to retrieve the Afghani interpreters and all others who "fought" on our side in the recently suspended campaign.
Failing our ability to bring them directly here, it is our Government's responsibility, on behalf of us all to get them from Afghanistan to the safety of another country, albeit on a temporary basis.
The fact that our country was slow to accept its moral responsibility to retrieve them is not the fault of our friends in that country.
Not to make every effort is a crime against humanity.
A D Kirby, Pāpāmoa.
Transparency? please
Bruce Cotterill's excellent article (Weekend Herald, August 28) showed commonsense in suggesting ways this Government should be handling the serious problems we are currently experiencing. He confirmed what we already knew, that Ardern and her ministers on many occasions are "very economical with the truth".
It would be great if the PM or any of her ministers would just once stand up and say "yes, maybe we could have done that a bit better" rather than dismissing all criticism whilst patting themselves on the back for a job well done. So much for the most transparent Government ever.
Phil Dunbier, Kerikeri.
Staff the issue
Along with vaccinations, John Roughan (Weekend Herald, August 28) exhorts us "to get hospitals equipped for their task". Dr Craig Carr, chair of the Australia-New Zealand Intensive Care Society and at the helm of Dunedin Hospital's ICU, has explained that while ICU equipment might be available now, the trained staff are not and may take five years to achieve the level of expertise required.
Janfrie Wakim, Epsom.
