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Go back over one month ago. Week after week, day after day—on international interviews and to Trends Journal subscribers—Gerald Celente had forecast that the COVID War would be winding down by late March, mid-April.
In America, the Governor of New Jersey who had imposed some of the nation’s most draconian lockdown mandates, declared on Sunday that the coronavirus would be treated as a part of everyday life, and all the children that have been masked up for years, can go to school without them.
When would the order be lifted? Right around the time Celente had forecast they would… the second week of March.
Other states including Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New York, Iowa etc., are relaxing mask rules and mandates.
Overseas, New Zealand announced last week that it will begin to reopen its borders after adopting one of the toughest COVID-19 policies in the world to stop the spread of the virus—just as the country’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, saw her poll numbers hit their lowest levels since she’s been in office.
“It’s time to move on,” Ardern said, according to the Financial Times. She insisted that the drastic measures saved lives despite the burden it put on the country. Ardern announced in October that the country was going to shift from a zero-COVID approach.
The country of 5 million has seen 53 deaths from the virus and a total of 17,773 cases. As of Saturday night, there were 12 people receiving hospital care and one person in an ICU.
Ardern announced a five-step plan to allow those who are fully vaccinated to start traveling to the country in March. CNN reported that by July, those who are fully vaccinated from Australia, the U.K., the U.S., and most European countries will be able to enter the country but be forced to self-isolate upon arrival.
The country banned nearly all travelers in March 2020 and requires visitors to stay at state-run facilities at their own costs, the CNN report said. The new guidelines state that visitors can self-isolate outside these state-operated facilities.
“We are in a new phase in our COVID response,” she said. “COVID as an illness hasn’t touched many of us to date. But with the transmissibility of Omicron we know we will experience the virus more directly. But the difference here is that we have all the tools possible now to prepare.”
(See “NEW ZEALAND: PRIME MINISTER’S PRIMETIME COVID FREAK SHOW,” “VARIANTS FORCE NEW RESTRICTIONS IN ISRAEL, AUSTRALIA” and “NEW ZEALAND CALLS FOR LOCKDOWN AFTER ONE CASE.”)
The FT reported that those living in the country have grown restless and took issue with reports that a pregnant journalist who was covering Afghanistan was not allowed to return to New Zealand to have the baby.
The journalist was eventually allowed to return, but her case struck the wrong chord with many. Thousands of kiwis remain stranded abroad.
The paper pointed to an A 1 News Kantar poll that showed support for Ardern had sunk to 35 percent. The number still represents a notable lead over Christopher Luxon, the opposition leader in the National Party, who comes in at 17 percent.
Luxon said that Ardern has teased a few reopening strategies before and said she should resign if she does not come through on her most recent promise.
The Associated Press reported that 77 percent of New Zealanders are fully vaccinated—and 93 percent of those 12 and older.
“There was life before, and now life with COVID, but that also means there will be life after COVID too, a life where we have adapted, where we have some normality back, and where the weather can once again take its rightful place as our primary topic of conversation,” Ardern said. “We are well on our way to reaching that destination. We’re just not quite there yet.”
TREND FORECAST: Keeping the borders closed to tourism until possibly late February, citizens from Australia and the Cook Islands are among those only permitted to enter the country, by air or sea.
We forecast that when the COVID War begins to wind-down late March, mid-April, there will be a sharp boost in global tourism and a spike in the hospitality, entertainment and restaurant sectors.