Almost 1 in 5 NZ Delta cases are children

[videomonkey]

Going into mask mandated areas where there are others, including children, may be in close proximity is to show a cavalier disregard for the health of those vulnerable kids. this is why we fucking well mandated it. to keep people safe. 
to consider yourself ok to go unmasked for your own selfish reasons (its hot, its hard to breath. bullshit.) is both arrogant and flippant.

not on my watch.

There are not 'mask mandated areas'...  people are required to wear masks in specific situations, and some like myself have a mandated exemption from doing so.   

You might as well add to your list of 'selfish' reasons 'will end up in hospital by the end of the day' - that is my life at the moment if i wear masks for extended periods... selfish, not from my perspective? how does that make sense for anyone? 

and where the heck you get this 'cavalier disregard for the safety of children' I have no idea, I suspect your just making shit up now... Grow up...

I'm actually genuinely curious (not asking you to tell us what your reasons are as that's your business), but what are the common medical reasons that might prevent someone from wearing a mask?

Doctors have shown it doesn't effect your oxygen intake or blood o2 levels. So just curious what other reasons there might be.

I guess there may be psychological reasons too as they can feel a bit claustrophobic (if that's the right term) to wear at times.

[FekkinLizzi]

Not all masks are equal nor are individuals- in their ability to inhale and exhale effectively.

Some even blow a lot of hot airalso known as a windbagging

To each their own but heaven help anyone who refuses to either vaccinate or decline a mask. They indeed have freedom of informed choice - itÔÇÖs the uninformed choices that are simply inflated by their own gas.

Mostly old fartz.at both ends :-)

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Old farts...

Hmmm, the alternative though is not nearly as much fun.

[Lilith7]

Incidentally, I managed to achieve the(paper) vaxxed pass thingy relatively painlessly today - rang the 0880 number, (nearly died of shock when it was answered straight away!) gave name & details to a bloke with a lovely Indian accent who says it should arrive in about 7 days.
Although given the state of NZ post lately it could be slightly longer.

[reigns]

Going into mask mandated areas where there are others, including children, may be in close proximity is to show a cavalier disregard for the health of those vulnerable kids. this is why we fucking well mandated it. to keep people safe. 
to consider yourself ok to go unmasked for your own selfish reasons (its hot, its hard to breath. bullshit.) is both arrogant and flippant.

not on my watch.

All trends indicate that a healthy unvaccinated child is at less risk of serious illness from covid than a vaccinated older person. Knowing that, is there a reason you are so concerned about children? Also if people are concerned about being exposed to covid by those not wearing masks, then surely the best way to keep yourself safe is to steer clear of those people. Getting in their space and conversing angrily with them would have the opposite effect.

Except that currently, in New Zealand, the statistics indicate that children make up 1 in 5 Delta cases. Like hunni pointed out as per population (around 1m children to NZ's 5m pop'n), that's about equal to the ratio of children-to-adults in this country.

Which means it's currently not less risk.

As a parent, that's a far bigger risk than I'm comfortable with. So what are my options? Lock my family away? What about our freedoms? Should I be forced to keep my children from parks unless I'm happy to risk their infection like unvaccinated adults choose to?

[king1]

personally, I think that given the significant risk to health, it's a bit disingenuous to be playing the odds based on stats or trends one might hear, regardless of the data source. Best to err on the side of caution...

Which I think generally speaking our government has been doing well, other than that moment of weakness when they caved in to the tourism industry and let delta in...

[reigns]

personally, I think that given the significant risk to health, it's a bit disingenuous to be playing the odds based on stats or trends one might hear, regardless of the data source.  Best to err on the side of caution...

Which I think generally speaking our government has been doing well, other than that moment of weakness when they caved in to the tourism industry and let delta in...

Yeah, I definitely agree that the government can wear legitimate criticism in dropping the ball re: Delta and not making sure we were ready for coming out of our own isolation before it hit. You're also right that it often feels like this Government has also let itself get bossed around because of its hard decisions, letting cry babies influence their decisions putting at risk all of the good those decisions have done.

And, yeah. As parents, we'll be using a bit of our own common sense and being cautious around where we go and what we do, particularly in public spaces. The often repeated "children are low/less risk" counts for naught when there are still kids getting it. My kids get normal sick more than enough, I don't need to add COVID to the list of germs they will inevitably get because they're beautiful little bundles of gross germs.

[nzoomed]

https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/nation...s-under-9/

An increasing number of primary school-aged children and younger are contracting Covid, as the total number of active cases in this country's Delta outbreak approaches 5000. There are 4828 active cases of Covid in New Zealand - and 36 per cent of them are aged 19 or under. Close to one in five - 18.5 per cent - of cases are in children 9 years old or younger, up from 12.7 per cent at the start of September. On Monday alone 44 new cases were announced in under-9s. 

In the current outbreak, 27 children under nine have ended up in hospital. As the number of active cases grows, vaccination mandates are being brought in to cut the number of people who aren't protected against the virus. Staff in the education, Corrections and healthcare sectors are already subject to vaccine mandates and the Government is making it easier for businesses to mandate vaccines as well.

So much for "But children don't catch the virus!"

They do catch it, but they dont typically get very sick in most cases, they are the silent spreaders passing it to adults. Its well seen from the outbreaks amongst schools.
Schools are great for spreading any virus.