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As Aucklanders anticipate holiday trips, Māori leaders ask people to stay away from regions with lower vaccination rates

Despite the emergence of the new Omicron variant, New Zealand will move to a new <a href="https://covid19.govt.nz/traffic-lights/covid-19-protection-framework/">COVID-19 Protection Framework </a> this Friday, with a traffic light system to mark the level of freedoms for each region. Auckland and other parts of the North Island that are battling active outbreaks or have low vaccination rates will start at red, which means hospitality and businesses will be largely open only for fully vaccinated people. The rest of the country will be in orange, which allows for larger gatherings but restricts access for those who remain unvaccinated. From December 15, the Auckland boundary will lift and Aucklanders will be free to travel around the country, despite the ongoing community outbreak in which <a href="https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-data-and-statistics/covid-19-case-demographics#vaccinations-details">23% of cases have been children under 12 and 14% were fully vaccinated</a>. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434350/original/file-20211129-13-pa5w88.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="Map of traffic light COVID-19 Protection Framework" /> Parts of the North Island will continue to have restrictions in place, particularly for people who remain unvaccinated, once New Zealand shifts to a new system on Friday. Provided, <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/" class="license">CC BY-NC</a> To travel outside the Auckland boundary, anyone aged 12 or over will need to be fully vaccinated or have had a negative COVID-19 test within three days of departure. This will reduce the number of infected people leaving Auckland, but cases will spread across the country as people travel to see whānau and go on holidays. As part of our research to build a <a href="https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2021/04/15/super-model-for-team-of-5m.html">population-based contagion network</a>, we used electronic transaction data from previous years to derive movement patterns across the country. We show that during weeks without public holidays, just over 100,000 travellers left Auckland to visit one or more other regions. For the summer period of 2019-2020, close to 200,000 people left Auckland each week, with travel peaking over the Christmas and New Year period. The most common destinations for these trips were Thames-Coromandel (30,000 people), Tauranga (17,000 people) and Northland (15,000 people). <h2>Vaccination remains the best protection</h2> While full (two-dose) vaccination levels in Auckland are almost at 90% — remembering that 90% of eligible people means only about 75% of the total population, with lower rates for Māori — rates are much lower in many places Aucklanders like to visit over summer. This provides much less protection, against both illness and transmission, and any outbreak would be larger and more rapid. Vaccination coverage in these areas is increasing but is unlikely to be at 90% before Christmas. Holiday destinations also have health infrastructure designed for the much lower local population and face additional pressures if visitors get sick. New Zealand’s outdoor summer lifestyle might be an advantage; transmission is greatly reduced outdoors with good air movement. But people should remain mindful anytime they move into an environment with less ventilation, such as using the toilet at the beach or sharing a car. A good rule of thumb is if you can smell perfume in the air then there’s a transmission risk. COVID-19 is passed on through the air we breathe, which is why masking remains important, as long as the mask <a href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/proper-mask-wearing-coronavirus-prevention-infographic">fits properly</a>. People planning to travel should reduce their risk of exposure during the two weeks before a trip. <ul> <li> Skip the office party (especially if they are held indoors) </li> <li> consider postponing meetings until after the holidays rather than having them during the days before people are likely to travel around the country </li> <li> if you decide to go ahead, make sure gatherings and parties are outdoors </li> <li> avoid alcohol as it can increase the likelihood of risky behaviour </li> <li> limit yourself to one meeting per week (if someone is infected, you’ll have a better chance to find out and self-isolate before passing it on) </li> <li> use your contact tracer app, always </li> <li> shop online </li> <li> wear a mask anywhere there is a crowd, even outdoors. </li> </ul> <h2>Protecting people in regions with lower vaccination rates</h2> Vaccination is the best step to reduce spread and symptom severity. But it’s not perfect. The risk of “breakthrough” infections depends on the intensity of exposure – short exposure to an infected person is less likely to result in infection and meeting indoors poses a higher risk. When people are vaccinated, we’d expect to see most transmission happening in dwellings where people are together for long periods of time. For anyone with a breakthrough infection, vaccination approximately halves the chance of transmitting the virus. Vaccination also reduces the risk of developing symptoms, and greatly reduces the risk of needing hospitalisation. But having milder symptoms can make it harder to detect cases, which means it remains important to get tested. The most popular places New Zealanders like to visit over summer are remote and people living there haven’t had the same easy access to vaccination as those living in bigger cities. Nearly a third of Northland’s eligible population remains unvaccinated, the East Cape is only 65% fully vaccinated and parts of the Coromandel Peninsula are also sitting well under ideal vaccination rates. These places also have fewer testing facilities, which could mean outbreaks become harder to detect and manage. Many rural communities aren’t connected to town supply, so wastewater testing won’t be as useful, and emergency medical attention is harder to access. <h2>Planning to manage COVID infections</h2> Many residents in these remote towns, including <a href="https://waateanews.com/2021/11/18/border-opening-no-christmas-treat-for-taitokerau/">iwi leaders</a>, are <a href="https://tinangata.com/2021/11/21/painting-a-covid-picture/">asking holiday makers to stay away</a>, regardless of vaccination status. Māori are already disproportionately represented in our COVID-19 statistics and have more young people who can’t be vaccinated yet. By travelling to areas with low vaccination rates among the Māori population we risk <a href="https://www.newsroom.co.nz/people-will-die-at-home-covids-unstoppable-summer">compounding tragedy</a> in places where health services would not cope with the level of illness. Anyone choosing to go on holiday after weighing these factors should have a plan for what they’ll do if they or someone on their group develops COVID-like symptoms while away from their usual health support systems. Questions to ask include: <ul> <li> Where will you go to get a test? </li> <li> What will you do while you wait for test results? </li> <li> Will it be possible for you to self-isolate while you wait for a test result? </li> <li> Where is the closest medical centre? Do they operate after hours? </li> <li> Is there an ambulance service and how far is the nearest hospital? </li> <li> Is there good phone reception? If not, what will you do in a health emergency? </li> <li> How would you manage an outbreak in your holiday accommodation? </li> </ul> Campers should take extra precautions by wearing masks in shared kitchens and bathrooms and using their own cleaning and hygiene products. They should keep good social distance wherever possible and minimise contact with people they don’t know. Family gatherings will also bring together different generations, with elders who may be more vulnerable and younger people who are more mobile and more likely to be infected. A group of New Zealanders who experienced COVID-19 put together a <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1e2v-rOztBgQfFBKHJN0R59RrinRtq2RmjuFhEZP9JfM/edit#gid=0">management kit</a> with a list of things anyone travelling will find useful. We would like to acknowledge the contribution of Kylie Stewart, a member of the team at Te Pūnaha Matatini and the HRC-funded project <a href="https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2021/04/15/super-model-for-team-of-5m.html">Te Matatini o te Horapa</a> — a population-based contagion network for Aotearoa New Zealand.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172682/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/dion-oneale-1283438">Dion O'Neale</a>, Lecturer - Department of Physics, University of Auckland; Principal Investigator - Te Pūnaha Matatini, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-auckland-1305">University of Auckland</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/andrew-sporle-1151937">Andrew Sporle</a>, Honorary associate professor, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-auckland-1305">University of Auckland</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/emily-harvey-1284406">Emily Harvey</a>, Principal Investigator, Te Pūnaha Matatini, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-auckland-1305">University of Auckland</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/steven-turnbull-1280540">Steven Turnbull</a>, Te Pūnaha Matatini Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-auckland-1305">University of Auckland</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-aucklanders-anticipate-holiday-trips-maori-leaders-ask-people-to-stay-away-from-regions-with-lower-vaccination-rates-172682">original article</a>. Image: Phil Walter/Getty Images

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120-year prison sentence for cult leader

Keith Raniere, who ran a cult-like group that kept women as virtual sex prisoners to service him in upstate New York was sentenced to 120 years prison on Tuesday. Reniere was convicted on federal sex trafficking, racketeering and possession of child pornography charges last year for his role in the alleged sex cult called NXIVM (pronounced “nexium”). The sentence was issued by the US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis, who presided over the six-week trial last year that ended in Raniere convicted on all counts. Acting US Attorney Seth DuCharme said he hopes the sentence will serve as a warning to any aspiring cult leaders. “When justice catches up to you, as it did today, it is severe," DuCharme told reporters outside court in Brooklyn. "Keith Raniere will not be able to victimize people anymore after today's sentence and we’re very grateful for that." Marc Elliot, a former NXIVM member and supporter of Raniere's, said the defendant didn't get a fair trial. "We all should be fighting for due process no matter how much you don't like it or how inconvenient it is," Elliot said. "Because if someone or society ever turns on you, you better hope to God that due process and laws are still standing to protect you." Appearing on Dateline NBC from jail, Raniere apologised for the “tragedy” and “hurt” he caused the victims but also claimed he was not guilty. "I am innocent," Raniere said. "This is a horrible tragedy with many, many people being hurt," he added. "There is a horrible injustice here. And whether you think I'm the devil or not, the justice process has to be examined." NXIVM is the subject of the HBO docuseries “The Vow”, which is set to feature Raniere in its second season next year.

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Are firstborns really natural leaders?

Everybody knows that firstborns are natural leaders, middle children are rebels and the baby of the family is spoiled yet confident. At least, that’s what received wisdom tells us. But is any of it true? And where did this idea come from in the first place? In the 1930s the Austrian psychotherapist Alfred Adler was the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jason_Kaufman3/publication/282442353_The_Role_of_Birth_Order_in_Personality_An_Enduring_Intellectual_Legacy_of_Alfred_Adler/links/56a10ebb08ae24f62701e979/The-Role-of-Birth-Order-in-Personality-An-Enduring-Intellectual-Legacy-of-Alfred-Adler.pdf">first to study birth order</a> and its effect on personality. He believed that “every difficulty of development is caused by rivalry and lack of cooperation in the family”. According to Adler, an only child never has to compete for their parents’ attention and is never “replaced” by other siblings. Similarly, the oldest child receives most of the parents’ attention and is likely to feel responsible towards their younger siblings, which is reflected in their perfectionism, hard-working attitude and conscientiousness. A second-born child is constantly competing with their older sibling and trying to catch up with them. Middle children are caught between their older and younger siblings, who may often leave them out or gang-up on them. As a result, the middle child may become easily angered and sensitive to criticism. The youngest child is often the most pampered in the family. They depend on their family more than any other siblings and may demand that everything is done for them. In the opposite case, they may feel unwanted, disliked or even ignored. Adding a child to the family has an impact on how a family operates. But Adler suggested that other factors play a role, too, such as family size, health, age, culture or the child’s sex. Adler’s theories continue to hold sway and birth order is still an important area of study in psychology. And the role of firstborn holds a particular fascination. The firstborn effect According to a <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w23393">recent Swedish study</a>, firstborns have more favourable personality traits, including openness to new experiences, conscientiousness, extroversion, friendliness and greater emotional stability, than their later-born siblings. As a result, they are more likely to become chief executives and senior managers, whereas later-born children, who love to take risks, often end up being self-employed. Firstborns tend to possess psychological characteristics related to leadership, including responsibility, creativity, obedience and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886905003314">dominance</a>. They are also more likely to have higher academic abilities and levels of intelligence than their younger siblings. These qualities are believed to make firstborns more successful. But the “baby” of the family is <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00224540009600502">more likely</a> to take risks, rebel, show addictive behaviour and lack independence compared with their older siblings. There are two explanations that could justify this firstborn effect. From the evolutionary perspective, parents favour and invest (shelter and food) in their firstborn to increase their chances of survival and reproduction. But this comes at a cost because the parent is now unable to invest the same amount of resources in later-born offspring. Younger siblings then have to compete for these limited parental resources and attention. (So parents who spend less time helping their later-born children with schoolwork may do so because of the lack of spare resources.) But children who are born last often receive preferential treatment. This is because parents now have the last chance to invest their resources. They are also older and tend to have more money at this point. Parents are more likely to invest in the education <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313072471_Birth_Order_and_Parental_Investment">of their latest-born offspring</a>. Parental expectations could also explain the more favourable personality traits among firstborns. That is, parents tend to be stricter in their parenting with the firstborn. Parents also encourage toughness because firstborns need to act as role models (and surrogate parent) for their later-born siblings and defend the values of the parents. Firstborns must keep their “first” position and never fall behind the younger sibling. The rivalry and conflict between firstborn and later-born offspring is the result of the younger sibling’s need to establish their position in the family. Although they try to race and copy the role of their older firstborn sibling, this privileged position is already taken. Laterborns must also differentiate themselves to attract parental resources, which could explain their rebellious behaviour. Mixed evidence These explanations are sound, but the evidence to support the link between personality traits and birth order is mixed. Some studies show a strong association between <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886913012142">leadership abilities and birth order</a>, but others <a href="https://articlegateway.com/index.php/JOP/article/view/1094">do not support these findings</a>. The inconsistencies in findings may stem from factors that are sometimes neglected, such as the sex of the siblings. The firstborn effect (and the chances of becoming a chief executive) is weaker in the case of later-born males with older brothers as opposed to those who have <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/0162-895X.00343">older sisters</a>. Age gap spacing also needs to be taken into account because larger age gaps between siblings result in a more nurturing surrogate parent role of the older sibling and reduces the <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780203837962">rivalry conflict between the siblings</a>. The fertility age of the mother could also sway the personality outcomes because mothers who have later-born children are older than when they had their firstborn and many studies don’t control for this factor. It appears that the psychological profiles of firstborns may have been over-generalised.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126215/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/klara-sabolova-875126">Klara Sabolova</a>, Lecturer in Psychology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-south-wales-1586">University of South Wales</a> This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-firstborns-really-natural-leaders-126215">original article</a>.

Mind

World leaders mock Donald Trump during NATO summit

Donald Trump has slammed Canadian prime minister as “two-faced” after a video shared on Twitter revealed world leaders mocking the US president at the NATO anniversary celebration in London. In a video footage posted by the CBC, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau appeared to be talking about Trump at a Buckingham Palace reception with French president Emmanuel Macron, British prime minister Boris Johnson and Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte. “He was late because he takes a 40-minute press conference at the top,” Trudeau could be heard saying, apparently alluding to Trump’s appearance before the press prior to the event. “You just watch his team’s jaws drop to the floor.” <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"> .<a href="https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JustinTrudeau</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/EmmanuelMacron?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EmmanuelMacron</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/BorisJohnson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BorisJohnson</a> and other VIPs shared a few words at a Buckingham Palace reception Tuesday. No one mentions <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a> by name, but they seem to be discussing his lengthy impromptu press conferences from earlier in the day. (Video: Host Pool) <a href="https://t.co/dVgj48rpOP">pic.twitter.com/dVgj48rpOP</a> — Power & Politics (@PnPCBC) <a href="https://twitter.com/PnPCBC/status/1202008162997538817?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 3, 2019</a></blockquote> Speaking in his closing news conference Wednesday, Trudeau confirmed that he had been talking about Trump and said the moment that made “his team’s jaws drop” was when the US president announced the location for next year’s G7 summit at Camp David. “Last night I made reference to the fact that there was an unscheduled press conference before my meeting with President Trump. I was happy to be part of it but it was certainly notable,” Trudeau said. When asked about the video during a meeting with German chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday, Trump slammed Trudeau as “two-faced” and criticised Canada for not meeting NATO’s 2 per cent defense spending target. “Well, he's two-faced ... he’s not paying 2 per cent and he should be paying 2 per cent. It’s Canada, they have money,” Trump said. “And honestly with Trudeau he’s a nice guy, but the truth is I called him out on the fact that he’s not paying 2 per cent and I guess he’s not very happy about it.” Spokespersons for Macron and Rutte have declined to comment on the matter.

News

“How dare you”: Greta Thunberg delivers scathing speech at UN climate summit

A furious 16-year-old has held world leaders accountable for “stealing my dreams and my childhood” as they fail to address the issue of climate change. Greta Thunberg put on a brave front and gave a speech at the United Nations headquarters that quickly gained worldwide attention. It came as over 50 global leaders, with the exception of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and US President Donald Trump, attended the Climate Action Summit in New York on Monday, local time. The teenage girl may be young, but she travelled from the UK in a zero-emissions yacht to convey her anger to the politicians seated in front of her. Thunberg said young people would forever hold world leaders accountable if they failed to keep global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-lang="en-gb"> Greta Thunberg to world leaders at the U.N. climate summit: “You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words” <a href="https://t.co/vhK7qb7Dgb">https://t.co/vhK7qb7Dgb</a> <a href="https://t.co/kArrseEu9f">pic.twitter.com/kArrseEu9f</a> — TIME (@TIME) <a href="https://twitter.com/TIME/status/1176216246943125505?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">23 September 2019</a></blockquote> “This is all wrong,” she said. “I shouldn’t be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you. You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words.” She then added: “If you choose to fail us, I say we will never forgive you.” Leaders who spoke at the summit included New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emannuel Macron, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Foreign Minister Marise Payne was there on behalf of Australia but did not speak. The US President sat in the audience for a brief period of time before attending a session on religious freedom.

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Become a leader with these handy hints

Despite being a popular label, there aren’t many “natural”-born leaders out there. Leaders, managers and trailblazers – they all have one thing in common: they work hard for that title. Leadership doesn’t only come into play if you’re the CEO of a company; in fact many people have been leaders at some point in their life. Whether it’s parenting a family, captaining a sports team or managing a small team at work, the following leadership tips will be beneficial in your daily life. Learn about yourself What is your leadership style? To think about this consider how you’ve dealt with situations in the workplace, at home or with your family and note down your strengths and weaknesses in handling matters that arise, people and problem solving. For example, if you’re a “friendly boss” your employees might really like you but does that mean you won’t make hard decisions when necessary? Conversely, if you are the “strict boss”, your employees might respect but be afraid of you. By looking at your leadership style through this type of exercise it enables you to consider what your leadership style is, how you handle things and areas where you might be able to improve. Be a role model If you are going to talk the talk, you must walk the walk. To gain respect and faith in your abilities as a leader, you must exemplify the behaviours and characteristics you want from your team. Lead by example and this will encourage others to follow you. Never stop learning You should always think about how you can improve your leadership skills because while something may have worked well before, you don’t want to become stuck in your old ways. Always strive to stay ahead of the curve by talking to others, reading books and relevant leadership material (magazines and journals), attend seminars or take a course. Passion is key If you aren’t passionate then how can you expect the people you lead to be excited and inspired? If you seem apathetic then your team will be apathetic too. Let your enthusiasm be a source of inspiration. Encourage contributions Although you are the leader you can also learn from your team members. Nobody likes to be ignored so encourage everyone to contribute and have a say. Allowing this sort of creativity helps businesses and people thrive. Show appreciation A true leader knows success is a team effort. You led the team but everybody helped. Show genuine appreciation for people’s performances. While praise is great, give people real rewards whether it’s promotions at work or prizes for sports teams. It increases morale and motivates people.

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