OCA - Oceania Group - retirement villages

[justakiwi]

Wow. Not sure I understand why professional security guards were needed. I realise our rest home is small, but we simply locked the doors, and put signs out saying nobody would be admitted. If a contractor had to come for an emergency such as plumbing/electrical, we escorted them in, checked that they had no known symptoms, ensured they sanitised their hands, and signed them in and out.

Why would anywhere need a major security presence if these measures were taken?

Its good to have a friend who works as a village manager at OCA

Estimate of weekly security costs. 44 sites to man using one security guard at each site for all 168 hours a week at an average of $28 per hour = $207K per week for security.
How many weeks were we in level 4, 3 and 2 I forget. 9 - 10 weeks in total ? Maybe $2m total for security costs ?

[Beagle]

Wow. Not sure I understand why professional security guards were needed. I realise our rest home is small, but we simply locked the doors, and put signs out saying nobody would be admitted. If a contractor had to come for an emergency such as plumbing/electrical, we escorted them in, checked that they had no known symptoms, ensured they sanitised their hands, and signed them in and out.

Why would anywhere need a major security presence if these measures were taken?

Younger people turning up even during lockdown 4 rules expecting to visit their aging and sometimes sick relatives. Some simply wouldn't take no for an answer. Despite the presence of security, police had to be called 4 times in one week at one village. Sounds crazy...but from personal experience I know some very weird stuff happened during lockdown 4.

[justakiwi]

That’s crazy! We didn’t have any problems at all. Everyone understood why we were in lockdown and fully supported what we were doing to protect their loved ones.

I sometimes forget I live in a little town far removed from the rest of the country. Maybe we are fortunate to have a greater sense of community down here?

Younger people turning up even during lockdown 4 rules expecting to visit their aging and sometimes sick relatives. Some simply wouldn't take no for an answer. Despite the presence of security, police had to be called 4 times in one week at one village. Sounds crazy...but from personal experience I know some very weird stuff happened during lockdown 4.

[Waltzing]

Auckland is worth a visit to understand the huge development this city has undergone in the last decade. Although i now reside back in small town NZ im in auckland every few weeks for the last 15 years and the changes have been huge.

[Beagle]

That’s crazy! We didn’t have any problems at all. Everyone understood why we were in lockdown and fully supported what we were doing to protect their loved ones.

I sometimes forget I live in a little town far removed from the rest of the country. Maybe we are fortunate to have a greater sense of community down here?

Yes you are.

[bull....]

23rd july to report , have to remember most of the figures are outdated pre covid numbers so just like ryman nedd to look thru them for long term analysis

[Bjauck]

Younger people turning up even during lockdown 4 rules expecting to visit their aging and sometimes sick relatives. Some simply wouldn't take no for an answer. Despite the presence of security, police had to be called 4 times in one week at one village. Sounds crazy...but from personal experience I know some very weird stuff happened during lockdown 4.

The angst felt by some by being denied a visit to a very sick loved one would be terrible. Whether in "small town NZ" or "metropolitan Auckland", It is completely understandable that they would be upset when denied a visit, despite wearing PPE.

Not here in NZ, but I know of several people who were denied visits to dying relatives. They have had a difficult time mourning.

We pay for Kiwis, who choose to travel and return, to quarantine. At the least, we should compensate those who have been denied visits to dying and very ill family members.

[winner69]

Some stories say villages needed security to keep restless residents in ....so they couldn’t escape and go and see their friends and family

[Beagle]

Nobody in N.Z. wants to talk about the large numbers of people who simply thought they were above the law. My understanding is the general level of illness and flu's within retirement villages has been at record lows because of quarantine measures and yet many people simply flouted the rules and expected they could visit their relative because they thought they were entitled to be above the law. The situation is not helped at all by a truly appalling lack of leadership and example set by David Clark. (Really he should go as he is a complete embarrassment to the Govt).

[Bjauck]

If people had insisted on maintaining their regular visits, that is one thing. However, if the law prevents you from visiting a very sick or dying family member, then you may well become emotional and upset. Law-abiding citizens follow whatever are the current laws of the land, but it is hardly surprising that security could need to be summoned to restrain and eject people in such circumstances.