These text conversations (warning: explicit content) with clients prove sex workers are surely New Zealand’s most under-acknowledged public health educators.
Imagine you’re a physiotherapist. Hell, you might actually be one, in which case this will be easy for you.
In this scenario, we’re still in level four. You can do phone consultations but that’s it. Your client texts saying he needs his hamstring seen to. “Sorry, phone and online consults only at the moment,” you reply. Then comes the barrage of pleading and bullshit. “I can make it worth your while.”
Followed by, “I live alone, and I’ve been a good boy for three weeks. Haven’t been anywhere, think you’re quite safe here.”
Or this one. “Damn. I thought you might be working as no one really checks.”
‘Kinda hoped that something like coronavirus would take the morons out first’
These are actual responses sex workers have received. And they’ve had enough.
For the past seven weeks, many of the estimated 3,500 sex workers across our fair land provided critical public health education responses to shitwits who just don’t get it.
‘We are in lockdown for a reason, moron’
Some sex workers were earnest – helpful, even – in their replies, others were furious that their cockwomble clients would dare put them and their families at risk. Rightly fucking so. Then, there were a handful responding with a well-deserved roast and merrily posting it on Twitter – these make excellent reading.
So while you scroll through the myriad ways New Zealand’s busiest working girls spent lockdown throwing shade on our country’s most reckless twatwaffles, take a moment to consider this.
New Zealand sex workers have a long, well-documented history as public health educators. When, back in the 80s, the country was gripped by Aids panic, sex workers calmly responded by teaching their clients about condom use and safe sex practices to help rule out HIV transmission.
‘Please scurry off back under your rock and educate yourself’
The New Zealand Prostitutes Collective (NZPC) has not only been a voice for decriminalisation in its 33-year history, its affiliates have also quietly (OK, not always quietly) advocated for sex worker safety and provided sexual health advice to both workers and their clients. Safe sex is in their DNA.
Most sex workers, despite what a number of these utter numpties clearly thought, preferred to stick to the regulations and save a few lives. Sure, they were missing the income, but they – like many of us – have spent the past few weeks pivoting to online and phone services. And, similar to many of us with families to support and little in the savings account, they are eligible for the wage subsidy scheme. Anecdotally, many have claimed it.
Clients can finally get back to enjoying a good rogering at level two, and in conjunction with officials, the NZPC has just agreed on guidelines and specifics to be communicated with sex workers. Clients should expect a halt to kissing and “girlfriend experiences” while Covid-19 is in play, and accept that their sessions will be more “creative” to limit the risk of transmission. Sex workers are also preparing to support robust contact tracing through a range of methods that might include a QR code “check in” as a possibility. Again, recording clients’ details is not new to sex workers. It can be a risky occupation for men and women dealing with intoxication and belligerence on the daily. Those who work on the street often buddy up with each other to note licence plate numbers, while those working privately mostly know their regulars by their real names, phone numbers and credit card details.
‘Uber drivers aren’t sticking their tongues down your throat and sucking your cock are they?’
Sex workers are doing the mahi, fighting the good fight, ensuring our sons, uncles, fathers and friends (because at the risk of generalising, most clients are male) aren’t going to get sick, and if they do catch Covid, sure as hell aren’t going to infect them.
So what about clients? The biggest worry for sex workers right now is that a client who falls sick may not take his contact tracing obligations seriously or disclose the interaction – and that potentially puts sex workers and their families at risk. Clients – if you’re reading this, don’t be a bellend. Please behave, and take some responsibility for your actions. Fill out the register, scan the code, and stick to your agreement with your sex worker. Because if you don’t, you’ll have more than your dodgy texts and poor spelling on your conscience.
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level two – read The Spinoff’s giant explainer about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.
The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded by The Spinoff Members. To support this work, join The Spinoff Members here.
7.00pm: The day in review
There were no new cases of Covid-19 recorded in New Zealand today, and no further deaths. The number of active cases dropped below 50.
Australia has seencoronavirus cases spike as lockdown restrictions ease, with 30 cases reported on Friday, the highest in almost a month.
The US House of Representatives narrowly approved a $3 trillion Democrat-crafted bill to provide more aid for battling Covid-19 and stimulating the economy.
For the first time in seven weeks, New Zealanders kicked off something approaching a normal weekend. People headed out to cafes, and even Jacinda Ardern got turned away from one to comply with distancing requirements.
Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro lost his second health minister within a month.
4.45pm: New poll offers hope for devastated tourism industry
In Stickybeak’s fourth nationally representative survey conducted exclusively for The Spinoff during the Covid-19 crisis, 42% of respondents said they intend to holiday in New Zealand outside the region they live in within the next quarter. More good news for the tourism sector came in the broad support for the trans-Tasman bubble.
The survey also showed widespread support for the move to alert level two, but for many, there was one lingering Covid-19-related worry. Most respondents were positive about the return to school and work – but did the enforced period at home convince many of the joys of home-working? Find out in our full story on The Spinoff.
2.45pm: Alert level two rules not being strictly observed – reports
Alert level two rules on physical distancing aren’t being strictly observed by weekend shoppers, according to reports from people out and about today. Earlier, Newshub reporter Emma Cropper posted photos showing a crowded Sylvia Park mall. She told The Spinoff it was like “Christmas eve” at the huge Auckland shopping complex. Our Spinoff writers are also reporting a return to pre-pandemic levels of activity. This is what Sam Brooks had to say about Auckland’s city centre.
Auckland’s CBD feels like pre-Covid business as usual. Some stores have compulsory contact-tracing measures, such as checking QR codes and sign-ins, while others are operating on a capacity basis. Restaurants like the Fed Deli and Depot have altered their outdoor seating arrangements to adhere to social distancing. Foot traffic is as high as it always is, with people loosely adhering to the new markings on pavements telling them what side to walk on.
The Spinoff deputy editor Alice Neville said her hospitality experiences also left her feeling like some people are treating the step down to alert level two as a return to normality. “I had a coffee this morning where you could check in on an app or sign a register but no one was actually making sure people were doing it and I saw some people just walk straight past.” It also didn’t seem like there was always a metre separating people at different tables, she said.
2pm: Today’s data, charted
The latest zero increase in Covid-19 cases fits with an encouraging trend. New infections have slowed to a virtual standstill, and recovered cases continue to vastly outnumber active cases.
This map shows Waitematā continues to have the most Covid-19 cases in the country. It is home to the St Mary’s Hospital & Rest Home cluster, which includes seven healthcare workers at Waitākere Hospital.
1pm: No new cases, no further deaths
There are no new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand and no further deaths as a result of the virus, the Ministry of Health has announced. This means the combined total of confirmed and probable Covid-19 cases in New Zealand remains at 1498.
The number of people who have recovered from Covid-19 is now 1428, or 95% of all cases. That’s an increase of seven from yesterday. There are now just 49 active cases of the virus in the country.
Health workers carried out 7150 tests yesterday, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 223,937.
Three people are receiving hospital-level care for Covid-19. One is in Middlemore, one is in North Shore Hospital, and one is in Waikato Hospital.
There are still 16 significant clusters of Covid-19 around the country.
In terms of numbers of new cases, the last seven days look like this: 2, 3, 0, 0, 0, 1 and today, 0.
12.55pm: New Covid-19 case numbers expected soon
The Ministry of Health is set to deliver an update on New Zealand’s Covid-19 case numbers at 1pm. There are no daily briefings now that the country has dropped down to alert level two.
12.10pm: Mall packed for first weekend of alert level two
Newshub reporter Emma Cropper is at Sylvia Park mall in Auckland and let’s just say it doesn’t look like people are strictly adhering to physical distancing rules. She’s posted worrying pictures from her trip out on Twitter. Malls are meant to operate in a similar manner to supermarkets during alert level two, with limits on the number of people allowed inside and distancing measures in place inside shops.
10.55am: Auckland’s water restrictions kick in
As the country sheds some of its Covid-19 restrictions, new limits on water use have come into force in Auckland. The city is facing a severe drought after experiencing its driest January and April on record. Its dams are at 45.5% of their maximum storage level, compared to a historical average of around 77% for this time of year. Councillors unanimously voted to institute water restrictions on May 7. From today, residents are no longer allowed to use outdoor hoses. Commercial car washes are banned unless they use recycled water. Anyone caught breaking the rules can be hit with fines of up to $20,000.
10am: Freedom, sort of
For the first time in seven weeks, New Zealanders are heading out to enjoy something like a normal weekend. Many Covid-19 restrictions have been eased under alert level two, with cafes, restaurants, cinemas and malls allowed to open for weekend trading for the first time since the country entered alert level 4 lockdown at 11.59pm on March 25.
However the freedom is limited. The government is still urging people to stay 2m away from strangers in places like shops and 1m away from others in workplaces. Gatherings of more than 10 people are still banned, except for at funerals or tangihanga, where groups of 50 people are allowed. Restaurants and cafes can have more than 10 people inside, provided individual bookings are limited to no more than 10 people.
The full list of alert level two rules is here. If we all stick to them, there’s a good chance that we’ll be able to keep having KFC (and seeing our friends and family).
9.35am: Inside story of lead-up to lockdown detailed
The Herald’s Matt Nippert has drawn on 2540 pages of government documents and multiple insider interviews to stitch together the inside story of New Zealand’s leadup to lockdown. His story paints a picture of a disaster narrowly averted thanks to a mixture of luck and the frantic actions of politicians and public health officials. It conveys the head-spinning pace at which officials had to act to stave off widespread community transmission of Covid-19. “It was as if test-match cricketers suddenly found themselves playing a T20 super over,” the report says.
The feature, which is the lead in today’s Weekend Herald, is well worth the price of a paper or a sign-up to Herald Premium.
9.10am: Courier companies accused of rorting drivers, government
This story broke last night, but deserves extra attention: a courier company has been deducting the government’s wage subsidy from its payments to drivers, in a move unions are saying is illegal. RNZ’s Checkpoint reported that NZ Couriers has reduced its daily payments to drivers during the 12 weeks of the wage subsidy, telling them it will deduct an amount it assumes is being covered by the government.
Lawyer Garry Pollak told reporter Nita Blake-Persen the move was likely illegal. Jared Abbott of First Union said Freightways was employing a similar tactic. He described it as a rort aimed at redirecting all the benefit from the wage subsidy into the courier companies’ pockets, while still not reducing prices for consumers. “It’s really a three-way rip off of the customers, their workers and the government.”
Courier companies have received coverage from Checkpoint and other media for several years for labeling drivers as contractors when they function effectively as employees. Former driver Mika Leota won a case against Parcel Express last week after the Employment Court found the conditions he worked under made him an employee, not a contractor. That could open the way for similar cases, RNZ reported.
8.25am: Bolsonaro loses second health minister within a month
Brazil’s health minister has quit after less than a month in the job. Nelson Teich gave no reason for his resignation, but has disagreed with the country’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro on the country’s Covid-19 response. His predecessor, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, was sacked by Bolsonaro less than a month ago after clashing with him on issues including the need for social distancing measures.
Brazil has become one of the world’s Covid-19 hotspots. It has more than 200,000 cases, and an official death toll just shy of 14,000.
8.05am: Tamaki, Bennett attend Leo Molloy’s 80-person bar party
Headquarters owner Leo Malloy went ahead with a much-discussed 80-person party at his Auckland bar last night, hosting guests including Brian and Hannah Tamaki, National deputy leader Paula Bennett, and Māori Party co-leader John Tamihere. The party at the Viaduct restaurant has been controversial, partly because it seemed to skirt alert level two rules limiting private gatherings to 10 people. Malloy also made a series of comments that were seen as homophobic in the lead-up to the event, posting on Facebook that a second wave of Covid-19 cases in South Korea was linked to “gay dungeon bars” and telling Newstalk ZB’s Heather du Plessis-Allan his clientele behaved with a “modicum of decorum”. “We’re not talking about a subterranean gay bar on K road where people swap DNA in the middle of the night and other materials,” he said.
There was one new case of Covid-19, ending the three-day streak of zero cases. The case was linked to the Marist cluster and was identified through “follow-up” testing of the school community.
The controversial Public Health Response Act, which was rushed through parliament this week, has been sent back to select committee for review after being passed. This comes after widespread criticism of the powers of entry it would grant police.
It was the one-year anniversary of the Christchurch Call, where heads of state and members of the tech sector pledged to develop regulations for violent and extremist online content.
Finance minister Grant Robertson submitted to grillings by both Kim Hill and Katherine Ryan on RNZ, where he defended leaving $20 billion in unallocated funds in the Budget.
Law professor Jane Kelsey spoke out against the treatment of Māori in the rush to draft emergency legislation for the Public Response Health bill.
