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The average monthly rent in Ireland is over €1,300 - €300 higher than the 2008 peak

Rents rose nationwide by an average of 9.8% in the 12 months to December 2018.

RENTS ROSE NATIONWIDE by an average of 9.8% in the 12 months to December 2018, according to the latest quarterly Rental Report by Daft.ie.

While this marks another record high in national average rents, the rate of increase is the slowest in almost three years.

The average monthly rent nationwide during the final quarter of 2018 was €1,347. This is €317 per month higher than the previous peak in 2008 and over €600 higher than the low seen in late 2011.

In Dublin, the increase in rents in the year to December 2018 was 8.8% and rents in the capital are now 37%, or almost €540 a month or €6,500 a year, higher than their previous peak a little over a decade ago.

Rents continue to rise more rapidly in Ireland’s other cities. In Limerick and Waterford cities, rents were 16% and 16.7% higher than a year previously, respectively. Galway saw its rents increase by 13.1% over the course of the year, while in Cork city, rents rose by 11.4%. Outside the five main cities, rents rose by an average of 10.4%.

The slight easing in inflation comes as availability shows modest signs of improvement, the report notes.

There were 3,641 properties available to rent nationwide on 1 January. This marks an 11% improvement on the same date in 2018 and is only the second time – together with February 2017 – that stock on the market improved at a double-digit rate.

The improvement in availability is led by Dublin (up 18% year-on-year on 1 January) but was seen in all parts of the country.

There are over 1,000 property searches taking place every minute on Daft.ie.

Screenshot 2019-02-09 at 18.05.30 Daft.ie Daft.ie

Ronan Lyons, author of the report and economist at Trinity College Dublin, said: “A rare improvement in availability of rental accommodation at year-end has meant a slight easing in rental inflation.

“This underscores the importance of additional supply in solving the problems of the rental sector, which have been ongoing for nearly eight years.

“Construction of new homes remains focused on one-offs and estate housing, while the overwhelming need is for apartments, in particular for renters. It remains to be seen, therefore, whether the modest improvement in conditions over recent months continues.”

Average rents, and year-on-year change, in Q4 2018:

  • Dublin: €1,982, up 8.8%
  • Cork: €1,314, up 11.4%
  • Galway: €1,239, up 13.1%
  • Limerick: €1,171, up 16.7%
  • Waterford: €968, up 16.0%
  • Rest of the country: €949, up 10.4%

Homelessness

Responding to the report, the Simon Communities of Ireland said tenants nationwide are faced with a “huge disadvantage” in terms of housing.

Paul Sheehan of the Simon Communities said measures are needed urgently to enhance security of tenure in the private rental market.

“As this reports shows, despite the supply of private rented properties improving, rent prices continue to increase, meaning that the almost half-million renters across Ireland face a huge disadvantage in terms of their housing. Nearly 10,000 men, women and children remain stuck in emergency accommodation.

Many have come from the private rental sector, where they were forced to give up the homes that they already had due to spiralling rents. Now their only option is to remain stuck in emergency accommodation as housing is expensive beyond reach and supply, while increasing, remains far too low.

Sheehan said Rent Pressure Zones provided for in existing legislation “need to be properly monitored and continuously enforced by the Residential Tenancies Board”.

“Loopholes such as the Section 34 (of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004) clause allowing for evictions due to reasons of sale or renovation, are being misused. More broadly, it is clear that the private sector is struggling to deliver the level of affordable housing needed in this country in the long-term,” he stated. 

Note: Journal Media Ltd has shareholders in common with Daft.ie publisher Distilled Media Group.

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79 Comments
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    Mute Madra
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    Feb 15th 2021, 7:56 AM

    New Zealand is a great country. I really wish we were like this. They done it right.

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    Mute john s
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    Feb 15th 2021, 8:30 AM

    @Madra: yep really wish ireland was in the middle of nowhere closest city is over 3hrs flight away, no boarder with another country etc etc.
    What ireland has done is not great but we boarder a country. We have thousands of Irish people who work in the UK just to make a living, we are an export country that needs to trade.

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    Mute Jim Lingk
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    Feb 15th 2021, 8:37 AM

    @Madra: not comparable at all

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    Mute Madra
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    Feb 15th 2021, 8:38 AM

    @john s: I was referring to how well they looked after their citizens. Nothing to do with the location on a map etc. Plus if we were to do that surely we’d be one of the worst countries globally from the weather alone. Not to mention silly tw*ts like you living here. I joke, we all know the weather can be good from March to September… jog on mate.

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    Mute Declan
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    Feb 15th 2021, 8:58 AM

    @Madra: about to enter their winter, let’s see how that goes…

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    Mute The Guru
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    Feb 15th 2021, 9:05 AM

    @Declan: they’ve already had a winter and it was fine

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    Mute Declan
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    Feb 15th 2021, 9:21 AM

    @The Guru: no flies on you…

    17
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    Mute thesaltyurchin
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    Feb 15th 2021, 9:28 AM

    @john s: Close the airports, vaccinate working people. Simple.

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    Mute Declan Doherty
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    Feb 15th 2021, 9:31 AM

    @Jim Lingk: It’s true there really is no comparison. NZ protected it’s borders. We did nothing. We have similar population sizes. They have 25 dead. We have 4000 dead. No comparison for sure. It would be a bit easier to accept all of these excuses if we had actually tried to do something about it but Leo told us it wasn’t necessary so we did nothing and lots of people died.

    37
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    Mute Jim Lingk
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    Feb 15th 2021, 10:01 AM

    @Declan Doherty: We have a border on a tiny island.

    We are out the periphery of Europe and are part of the EU. We typically have multiple more arrivals each year than NZ ever had. Instead of using New Zealand as this beacon why not show a European country that was successful in containing Covid 19? No, we’d rather use an island country in the middle of nowhere and nearly 20,000 miles away

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    Mute Jim Lingk
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    Feb 15th 2021, 10:10 AM

    @Jim Lingk: and I should have added that the population density is not comparable at all. But, of course, NZ = great, everywhere else = rubbish.

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    Mute Declan Doherty
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    Feb 15th 2021, 10:18 AM

    @Jim Lingk: Being a tiny Island should have been a benefit for us had we decided to protect our borders. We’re less comparable to mainland Europe then we are to NZ for that same reason. We are an island. All I’m hearing are lots and lots of lame excuses as to why we did nothing for a year but none of them add up. The truth is we could have done so much more but we chose to do nothing and it cost lives.

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    Mute Margaret Deacon
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    Feb 15th 2021, 10:23 AM

    @thesaltyurchin: how do we close airport and ports in North plus the 300 border crossings

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    Mute aaron
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    Feb 15th 2021, 11:16 AM

    @Declan: They were back to normal during our summer and their winter…. whatst your point?

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    Mute aaron
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    Feb 15th 2021, 11:19 AM

    @Jim Lingk: Absolutely is comparable at least in terms of response. NZ lockdown after 3 cases, we have 200, the government creates a new special committee, hires 3 new advisors and then dithers for 3 months until we are at 2k cases before a lockdown is announced by Leo leaking it to the media. We are a disaster.

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    Mute john s
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    Feb 15th 2021, 11:43 AM

    @aaron: not even close to being true .

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    Mute Alan McArdle
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    Feb 15th 2021, 12:26 PM

    @Declan Doherty: we’re only less compatible if you choose to ignore every other characteristic that Jim has highlighted.

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    Mute Seán O'Loughlin
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    Feb 15th 2021, 12:48 PM

    @Jim Lingk: Vietnam. Population 98 million. Shares land border with China (1.4 billion people), Laos (7 million people) and Cambodia (16.5 million people). Number of Covid deaths in total in Vietnam = 35. Number of Covid cases in total in Vietnam = 2,228.

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    Mute aaron
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    Feb 15th 2021, 12:50 PM

    @john s: Absolutely is true. I can reference you basically every surge we have had since the first one. The Tanaiste himself went full trump on tv dismissing NPHET advice until he had to walk back on it 2 weeks later.

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    Mute Seán O'Loughlin
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    Feb 15th 2021, 12:52 PM

    @Jim Lingk: Oh and if population density is your argument, Vietnam’s population density is 308 per square kilometre, compared to Ireland’s 72.

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    Mute thesaltyurchin
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    Feb 15th 2021, 1:14 PM

    @Margaret Deacon: Thats a lame excuse to do nothing Margaret! Do what you can within the capabilities you have, which has not happened, because of attitudes like the one you’ve just expressed.

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    Mute John Meade
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    Feb 15th 2021, 1:34 PM

    @Seán O’Loughlin: yes Vietnam’s testing regime is really one to fill you with confidence! 15,000 tests done per million population, I would wonder how much is not reported there

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    Mute Jim Lingk
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    Feb 15th 2021, 1:41 PM

    @Declan Doherty: we are not an island. We are a country on an island, with another country on it.

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    Mute Jim Lingk
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    Feb 15th 2021, 1:43 PM

    @Seán O’Loughlin: That is exactly my argument as to why comparing the population of NZ to Ireland isn’t sensible

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    Mute Brendan Walsh
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    Feb 15th 2021, 5:30 PM

    @Seán O’Loughlin: would be curious about overall death rates in those countries compared to Ireland. Looked up a couple and far higher including NZ. They are over 7%, we are 6.2%. So they are not dying thankfully of Covid but they are still dying at higher rates than Ireland. Perhaps just an unhealthier population? Worse health service? Different demographics? Could be anything. It seems they also have not even started vaccines?

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    Mute M
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    Feb 16th 2021, 1:35 AM

    @Declan Doherty: We are not an island. We are four-fifths of an island and we share this island with a basket case in covid terms. So comparing us to a low population density country like NZ that is 4000 km away from its nearest neighbour is ridiculous.

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    Mute Bobby
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    Feb 15th 2021, 8:38 AM

    Yes, ourselves and European countries could have done things differently, but this constant narrative that we should adopt NZ’s covid-19 zero approach is naive, as it blatantly ignores the advantages NZ has in its favour.
    NZ population density is 18 per square km, Ireland’s is 72. NZ is also divided into two separate islands which makes it easier to limit movement and to prevent cross-island transmission, on the other hand, our single island is governed by two completely separate jurisdictions, all with separate laws and legislation. And this is also compelled by the North no longer being obliged to follow the orders of the EU.
    NZ’s closest country Australia is over 4000km away. In contrast to Ireland, Moscow, the complete other end of Europe is 3500km away.

    These geopolitical factors seem to be completely ignored when people highlight that we should have adopted NZ’s approach. And even still, NZ still gets cases every so often which highlights the sheer difficulty of keeping out a highly transmissible disease permanently.
    In sum, yes we could have done things better but lets not kid ourselves by using such a disingenuous comparison with NZ

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    Mute The Guru
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    Feb 15th 2021, 9:14 AM

    @Bobby: how is distance from other countries relevant in this day and age? They still had hundreds of international flights per day, some of which were coming from the epicentre in China. Every country started out with zero cases, the difference is they locked down early and protected their borders.

    48
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    Mute Simon Connolly
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    Feb 15th 2021, 11:11 AM

    @The Guru: It’s relevant when you can hop in a car and drive across an international border!!

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    Mute aaron
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    Feb 15th 2021, 11:18 AM

    @Simon Connolly: We closed the border for foot and mouth, it’s not that it can’t be done or that we can’t work together it’s that the two governments have no desire to work together or drive.

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    Mute Simon Connolly
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    Feb 15th 2021, 11:25 AM

    @aaron: This point has been disproven on numerous occasions…the border was NOT closed. The movement of livestock across the border was restricted, not the movement of people. Which is incomparable unless you know of a sheep somewhere who possess the ability to drive a car!!

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    Mute aaron
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    Feb 15th 2021, 12:51 PM

    @Simon Connolly: Interesting considering they are now fining people for crossing the border without an essential reason….1 year into a pandemic, so interesting how we couldn’t possibly do that?

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    Mute Marguerite Hoiby
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    Feb 15th 2021, 1:51 PM

    @Bobby: OK, but look at Vietnam population of 97,338,579, 35 deaths, 2228 cases. 308 people / sq km and surrounded by China, Laos & Cambodia. This is the success story that doesn’t get enough attention. Also, not one of the wealthiest country in SE Asia.

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    Mute Brian Ó Dálaigh
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    Feb 15th 2021, 4:16 PM

    @aaron: we didn’t close the border for foot and mouth. I crossed it every single day back then. There were sporadic disinfectant and checkpoint stations on some routes, but that was it. Please stop lying.

    2
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    Mute JedBartlett
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    Feb 15th 2021, 8:32 AM

    Another article about New Zealand designed to generate conflict in the comments.

    115
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    Mute NotMyIreland
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    Feb 15th 2021, 9:00 AM

    @JedBartlett: It seems that sowing division and stoking anger is what the thejournal.ie is all about these days.

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    Mute Tom kenny
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    Feb 15th 2021, 9:15 AM

    @NotMyIreland: welcome to the journal

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    Mute Peter Cavey
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    Feb 15th 2021, 9:19 AM

    @JedBartlett: I’ve definitely noticed the increased anger in the comments sections in the past few months. Journal don’t care cause it’s all about the clicks.

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    Mute JedBartlett
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    Feb 15th 2021, 9:40 AM

    @Peter Cavey: Agreed. I’ve found it true with myself lately. Some days a random article will trigger something in me and I’ll dive into the comments and other days it will just wash over me. Suppose it’s just a symptom of the fatigue with the current situation and I’d hazard a guess that I’m not alone.

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    Mute Paul Mcnevin
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    Feb 15th 2021, 10:19 AM

    @NotMyIreland: Clicks – ad. Revenue. Not rocket science.

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    Mute Stephen Campbell
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    Feb 15th 2021, 9:15 AM

    Its funny how sky news and the bbc dont describe this outbreak as the UK variant.. I wonder why…

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    Mute Virgil
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    Feb 15th 2021, 7:46 PM

    @Stephen Campbell: it was discovered in the UK which is not quite the same thing. It’s popping up in different countries now (even those with no contact with the UK

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    Mute Verners Tess
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    Feb 15th 2021, 9:04 AM

    Still a lockdown no matter how who frame it

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    Mute emer mcdonnell
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    Feb 15th 2021, 11:31 AM

    I think Jacinda put her people as the main priority from day one, over the economy Simple as. We can constantly use our border as an excuse for not even trying. Australia were able to implement lockdowns in states where there was an outbreak, no one in or out till it was surpressed. Here we are a year later , going around in circiles where nothing is different than the first lockdown , no tough decisions made , all we have is the hope of a vaccine. Jacinda showed true leadership and that’s why her public all supported and still continue to support her. If only we had some semblance of strong leadership, it’s so depressing and frustrating.

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    Mute Aindriú Purfield
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    Feb 15th 2021, 11:11 AM

    The whole NZ thing does make me think it’d be a great place to live some day for a few years. I met a few of them down the years, they’re amazing people. I work in tech support in Central Europe and plan on studying advanced networking in university in Dublin in 2023 or 2024 after the pandemic. Once I get a proper technical qualification I’ll be ready to apply for jobs in the real countries. My brother is in Oz too with a kid on the way but NZ is more my style I’d say so it’d be a handy base to live well but visit him in 4 to 5 years I’m thinking. They are light years ahead of the EU mentality wise, which when you think about it, just shows how backwards some European countries actually are. The whole wanting to live somewhere dynamic, modern and well run will matter a lot in the future.

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    Mute
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    Feb 15th 2021, 8:42 AM

    Smarts and kudos

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    Mute MickN
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    Feb 15th 2021, 4:19 PM

    Real leadership , something we have not had here in decades..

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    Mute Griff Griff
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    Feb 15th 2021, 7:12 PM

    New Zealand deserves much praise but comparisons with Ireland’s current situation are not comparable given that NZ is in their summer where cases are always very low.

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    Mute Alan Clarke
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    Feb 15th 2021, 10:36 AM

    This was in the news two days ago.

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    Mute Alan Clarke
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    Feb 15th 2021, 10:40 AM

    This is two days old news.

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