The Bull Ring

ℕ𝕖𝕨 ℤ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕝𝕖𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝔻𝕖𝕝𝕥𝕒 – 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕋𝕦𝕔𝕜𝕖𝕣 ℂ𝕒𝕣𝕝𝕤𝕠𝕟 𝔻𝕖𝕤𝕡𝕚𝕥𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕔 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖𝕚𝕘𝕟 𝕔𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕚𝕤𝕞, 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔸𝕣𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕟 𝕘𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥’𝕤 𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕝𝕪 𝕝𝕠𝕔𝕜𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕘𝕪 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕜𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕖𝕟𝕛𝕠𝕪𝕤 ℕ𝕖𝕨 ℤ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕤’ 𝕤𝕦𝕡𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕥. O n August 17, a 58-year-old man from Auckland became symptomatic and tested positive for COVID-19. It was New Zealand’s first community case of the coronavirus in almost six months. Within hours, the nation of five million moved into alert level four, part of its “go hard, go early” approach. All travel outside of people’s homes was forbidden, except to fetch supplies, visit pharmacies or exercise. The country largely ground to a halt. “We have seen the dire consequences of taking too long to act in other countries, not least our neighbours,” said Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, while announcing the cabinet’s decision to impose a lockdown that evening. . With...

𝕎𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕 𝕗𝕒𝕞𝕠𝕦𝕤 ℙ𝕄 𝕁𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕒 𝔸𝕣𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕟 𝕙𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕒𝕥 𝕣𝕦𝕟 𝕒𝕨𝕒𝕪 ℙ𝕄 𝕁𝕠𝕙𝕟 𝕂𝕖𝕪'𝕤 𝕤𝕥𝕦𝕡𝕚𝕕 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕤 ℕ𝕖𝕨 ℤ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕'𝕤 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕 𝕗𝕒𝕞𝕠𝕦𝕤 ℙ𝕣𝕚𝕞𝕖 𝕄𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕁𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕒 𝔸𝕣𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕟 𝕚𝕤 𝕙𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕒𝕥 𝕔𝕝𝕒𝕚𝕞𝕤 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℙ𝕄 𝕨𝕙𝕠 𝕣𝕒𝕟 𝕒𝕨𝕒𝕪 𝕁𝕠𝕙𝕟 𝕂𝕖𝕪 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝔾𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥'𝕤 ℂ𝕆𝕍𝕀𝔻-𝟙𝟡 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕡𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕘𝕪 𝕚𝕤 𝕓𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕠𝕟 "𝕗𝕖𝕒𝕣" 𝕒𝕟𝕕 "𝕙𝕠𝕡𝕖". F ormer Prime Minister Sir John says health officials and the Government are peddling fear around COVID-19 - which he believes doesn't work.  "Fear and hope are not a strategy. They don't actually work,"  he told The AM Show on Monday , a day after NZ media outlets including Newshub published his scathing column on the Government's COVID-19 response.  But Ardern said the Government hoped to ease restrictions once 90 percent of the eligible popu...

𝔸𝕣𝕚𝕫𝕠𝕟𝕒 𝔸𝕦𝕕𝕚𝕥 ℝ𝕖𝕤𝕦𝕝𝕥𝕤 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕒𝕝 𝕋𝕣𝕦𝕞𝕡 𝕃𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕁𝕠𝕖 𝔹𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕟 𝕓𝕪 𝔼𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝔹𝕚𝕘𝕘𝕖𝕣 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕚𝕟 𝔸 𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕠𝕡𝕒 ℂ𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕥𝕪'𝕤 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕒𝕝 𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕧𝕠𝕥𝕖 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕣𝕖𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕠𝕗𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕝 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕦𝕝𝕥𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕕 𝕁𝕠𝕖 𝔹𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕟 𝕨𝕠𝕟, 𝕒𝕟 𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕒𝕦𝕕𝕚𝕥 𝕕𝕣𝕒𝕗𝕥 𝕣𝕖𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕤𝕒𝕚𝕕. A uditors in  Arizona  found that the county's election had not been stolen from  Donald Trump , as some of his supporters had claimed, and that the former president had lost by more votes than earlier official results declared. The hand count found Trump won 45,469 fewer votes than Biden, whereas earlier county results showed he lost by 45,109—a relatively small discrepancy of 360. It also gave Biden an extra 99 votes—up from 1,040,774 to 1,040,873. . Overall, the draft report shows there was less than a 1,000-vote difference between ...

ℂ𝕠𝕧𝕚𝕕 𝟙𝟡 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕝𝕒𝕓 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕜, 𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕚𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕛𝕦𝕞𝕡𝕖𝕕 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕒𝕟𝕚𝕞𝕒𝕝𝕤 𝕟𝕦𝕞𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕤 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖𝕤 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕠𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕚𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝔸ℝ𝕊-ℂ𝕠𝕍-𝟚 𝕧𝕚𝕣𝕦𝕤, 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕔𝕙 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℂ𝕆𝕍𝕀𝔻-𝟙𝟡 𝕡𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕔, 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕙𝕠𝕥𝕝𝕪 𝕕𝕖𝕓𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕. T his debate has caused substantial difficulties in the Australia-China relationship, with a call by Foreign Minister  Marise Payne for another inquiry into its origin  being considered by China as a hostile act. What’s not in doubt is the  closest relatives of the virus are found in bats . How, where and when the virus spilled over into humans is the contentious issue. One widely supported hypothesis is the spillover occurred in the “wet markets” of Wuhan, where many species of wildlife from across China are held in crowded conditions. . However, there’s no evidence the species of bats in which the closest relatives of SARS-CoV-2 are fo...

ℙ𝕆𝕃𝕃: 𝕂𝕚𝕨𝕚𝕤 𝕗𝕖𝕖𝕝 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕒𝕥 𝕣𝕚𝕤𝕜 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 ℂ𝕆𝕍𝕀𝔻, 𝟠𝟞% 𝟙𝟞+ 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕥𝕠 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕧𝕒𝕔𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕃𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕖 𝕟𝕦𝕞𝕓𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕡𝕖𝕠𝕡𝕝𝕖 𝕚𝕟 ℕ𝕖𝕨 ℤ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕤𝕦𝕡𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕝𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟜 𝕝𝕠𝕔𝕜𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕟, 𝕗𝕖𝕖𝕝 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕒𝕥 𝕣𝕚𝕤𝕜 𝕠𝕗 𝕓𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕟𝕗𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕪 𝕟𝕖𝕨 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕠𝕗 ℂ𝕆𝕍𝕀𝔻-𝟙𝟡 - 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝟠𝟞% 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕤𝕖 𝕒𝕘𝕖𝕕 𝟙𝟞 𝕠𝕣 𝕠𝕝𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕥𝕠 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕧𝕒𝕔𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕. T hese are the findings of Horizon's August 24-29 nationwide survey of 2,334 respondents aged 16+, conducted for the Ministry of Health. Horizon does the research in association with Auckland University's School of Population Health. Key findings are: Attitudes on the effect of new strains of COVID-19 Just over three-quarters (76%) of those surveyed believe that new more infectious strains of COVID-19 put them more at risk, while only 5% believe these strains pose less risk. 44% who had not yet been va...