They've given us 2 days to prepare. Complete lock down in NZ in 48 hours with road closures and NO domestic travel allowed. They are freezing rents, conserving fuel, closing all shops including carry out, stopping all non-urgent health care, closing parliament, and preparing to re-purpose private companies for the public good. The Police and Defense Force will enforce. The lock down will be in force for at least 4 weeks. We currently have 100 cases linked directly to international air travel, and 2 cases of community spread. They are testing widely and contact tracing still. The lock down, however, came faster than expected. I think they decided, why wait?

Our grocery store put TP on the shelves, and then put an entire pallet of TP in the middle of the store rather than storing it in the back. It was wrapped in plastic so you couldn't pull any out to buy, but the message was clear -- we have TP, don't worry.

Well, we live next too the Town Belt, and it is full of "bushman's toilet paper." So indefinitely! https://www.google.com/search?q=bushman's+toilet+paper+nz&safe=active&rlz=1CAIUCU_enNZ871&sxsrf=ALeKk02Yp-vKLpqBLzHp4obYs3Z3YWigQA:1584858727686&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiijO7ruq3oAhUVzDgGHe7LArYQ_AUoAXoECA0QAw&biw=1138&bih=482

I'm happy to bow out of this conversation. I have no need to argue. I have no facts. We are simply preparing for one possibility among many. Good luck to all!

Well, this is what I have heard first hand: restaurants closing and not planning to reopen ever. TV producer finding working from home so good for his team that they are going to cancel their commercial lease for good. Rental car company selling their cars and closing up shop as no one is renting. Cruise ships completely cancelled. Airlines down to 85% and laying off staff. Tourism (which is 20% of our economy) completely stopped. Just look at the wide range of goods and services that are not going to be able to hold on for months. It is not a single industry. So how do you jump start them? How do you convince people to restart a tourism operation, a bar, or a car-rental company? When things go on sale, people won't buy if they expect the sale to be better next month. Once deflation gets hold you are sunk. But wages have to deflate also, and we can't possibly see that yet because it has been too fast. I'm no economist, but I am not hopeful. I am calm, but I am thinking carefully about orienting my family to a new possible future. 8 brought up the university kids, and we are being careful around our 2 boys with what we say, but behind closed doors, we are making alternative possible arrangements.

I'm not even sure there will be flights come late August to get my ds from NZ to American to attend, assuming they are even open for the Fall semester. 😞 Yes, 8, we are very very aware of the ramification of this. We are headed into a worldwide Depression -- 30% unemployment, deflation, at least 10 years to dig our way out. We have no idea what to do about DS's university. It is a lot of money, and we don't know if we should still plan to spend it the way we were planning.

MIT has put out its academic guidelines for final exams. They will be given during the 3 hour assigned period EST, and must be taken during that time period regardless of the time zone where you are currently living. This means my ds's two exams will both be from 1am - 4am. We had a good laugh.

MIT has just released the academic guidelines for the rest of the term. And all final exams will be taken during the assigned 3 hours slot Eastern Standard Time regardless of the time zone the students live in (yes, it very clearly says that!). Well, my ds has two 9am exams, so that will be 1am-4am NZ Standard Time. Good thing he likes to stay up late! We had a good laugh at the plight we are all in, and the sacrifices we are making.

My ds's friend goes to Cambridge, and luckily for him, NZ put out the call on Monday for all kiwis to come back home. DS's friend was just barely able to get a flight, and arrived back to NZ last night with no time to spare.

NZ put out a similar call on Monday to have all kiwis return home. Basically, those travelling and studying seem to be getting back in any way they can. But NZ is also talking about chartering flights to rescue people who are stranded.

MIT closed on Sunday, so we had to make the decision for ds to stay in the US or come home a week ago. My sister offered to take him in for 5 months, which was lovely, but ds was worried about not knowing anyone at all in the area. So we got him on a flight ASAP. It felt SOOOOO rushed, but I'm glad that the university made the hard call early, as ds could still get a flight back. Main problem is getting back to the US if classes resume in September. AirNZ has cancelled all flights until 30 June, so our trip to visit family in America is now on hold. My parents and MIL live independently and are self isolating so I don't think they will get it. So we should be OK to not visit even though they are in their 80s and 90s. My grandmother has been in hospice for a month, and if she goes, I said my goodbyes last year. It sounds like NZ is still one of the few countries with no community spread. 28 cases all linked to overseas travel, and all contact traced putting 3000 extra people in self isolation. I'm not clear on the ramifications of this. If we can actually stop it, do we just hang out in NZ for 18 months until the vaccine?. The rest of the world will get it, some will die, and then the rest get herd immunity. Plus, with no tourists, 20% of our economy just evaporated. Clearly an economic Depression is coming.

NZ has closed its borders to ALL foreigners as of midnight tonight. Only NZ citizens/permanent residents will be allowed entry. 28 cases here, all from overseas travel. Still NO community spread. Contact tracing is continuing.

My dh may lose his job because he works for Immigration NZ, and they are funded by Foreign visas. Effective at midnight tonight, NZ just closed its borders to ALL foreigners, so Immigration NZ just lost all its funding. But he has very high-end IT capabilities. If his job is cut, he plans to offer his services for free to help the NZ government in any way he can, as he doubts anyone will be actually hiring. Volunteering is better than sitting at home feeling sorry for yourself. And honestly, if dh loses his job, my oldest will go to work tutoring high-end math students in the USA.

And it could be worse. The UK is talking about having all the students repeat a year because they are likely cancelling the GCSE and A-level exams, and their qualification system is based on a single exam for the year.

I hate to talk about it, but I am already thinking about how students will stand out for grad school if all their classes are pass/fail. I'm thinking teacher recommendations and publications as undergraduates will become more important. However, I do think that a lot of students will reorient their goals to be more 'help humanity' than just get job xxx.

I'm thinking the students will be losing the fall semester as well. All the models I am seeing are saying a year. 😞 And not all students will be financially able to return, so when the Universities open back up, it will be a subset of their friends who will return.

MIT has it in their academic guidelines that in case of pandemic or war, the semesters affected would be Pass/Fail. So once all the kids were sent home last week, it was automatically pass/fail. No opt in. All students, all classes.

Not sure if it has been posted before but here is an awesome song written for all you professors! Removed ETA: Haha, hadn't read the thread. And Regentrude posted it yesterday! I sent it to my sisters!

Oh, 8, I am so sorry. 😞 The college kids are being hit really really hard.

One of the Wellington schools is trialing work from home on Friday. People are thinking the schools close next Friday, 2 weeks before the 2 week school holidays (so 4 weeks off). Right now there are 6 active cases in NZ and 5 closed cases, all brought in from abroad. We are still doing individual contact tracing; there is no community spread yet.

We got an e-mail from a local grocery store chain. (not sure how I got on the email list!). The yellow is their bolding. We're very lucky in New Zealand to have some of the best food in the world, and there is plenty to go around. There's no need to stock up.We're working closely with our suppliers to keep food moving quickly through the network and make more deliveries to our stores. If you're seeing empty shelves or some products missing, it's because the product is on its way. It doesn't mean that we're going to run out.We'd encourage all our customers to shop as you normally would, and to be thoughtful of others to ensure that all Kiwis have access to the food and products they need.

deleted. misinformation

gulp.

Yes. My son got into NZ 12 hours before the mandatory quarantine for all travelers, but we have still quarantined him. Our very close neighbor who lives 3 meters away has diabetes and is 65. Also I tutor kids in 6 high schools throughout the city, and these kids come to my apartment. Schools have not been shut down here as we still have no community spread. I will NOT be the person who spreads this virus into the high schools. ETA: self-isolation here does not mean family members are isolated nor does it mean he can't interact with us. He is to have separate plates/utensils, say 1m away from us, and wash his hands a lot. The moment he shows symptoms, then we go into isolation. The chance we are contagious with this time line is very very low, so dh and I are allowed to work. We live in 600 sq feet, so I figure if he has it, we will too.

AirNZ just dropped flights to Houston, Chicago, San Fran, and are reducing capacity to 85% from March 30 to June 30. So our trip to America in late June just got cancelled. 😞 Air New Zealand has placed itself into a trading halt today to allow it time to more fully assess the operational and financial impacts of global travel restrictions-an indication of the true impact of Covid-19. NZ's 85% Capacity Cuts Air New Zealand has flagged plans to slash its long-haul capacity by 85% over the coming months due to the Covid-19 crisis, but will continue to operate a minimal schedule to allow Kiwis to return home and to keep trade corridors with Asia and North America open. Full details will be advised later this week, but NZ has confirmed that it is suspending flights between Auckland and Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, Buenos Aires, Vancouver, Tokyo Narita, Honolulu, Denpasar and Taipei from 30 Mar to 30 Jun. It is also suspending its London--Los Angeles service from 20 Mar (ex LAX) and 21 Mar (ex LHR) through to 30 Jun. The Tasman and Pacific Island network capacity will significantly reduce Apr- Jun. Details of these schedule changes will be announced later this week. Domestic capacity will be reduced by around 30% in April and May but no routes will be suspended.