20 Mar 2020

Covid-19: Schools staying open, election date not changing - PM Jacinda Ardern

From Checkpoint, 5:22 pm on 20 March 2020

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has told Checkpoint she has no intention of changing New Zealand's election date, as the country prepares to face a sustained period of restrictions to stop the Covid-19 outbreak. 

Ardern said as part of the $900 million government loan to Air New Zealand, “we will be able to keep essential flights going, including ensuring Kiwis can return home.”

On whether the military would be needed to help fly New Zealanders home from overseas, Ardern said MFAT is still working through what is needed. 

For the potentially thousands of New Zealanders returning home, Ardern said quarantining them in a place like the Whangaparaoa base would not be practical.

“We have an obligation to let New Zealanders come home… I’ve seen people talking about their experience at the border now - being constantly questioned about where they’re south isolating, Air New Zealand keeping people separate when they’re returning… so they can then self-isolate in their homes.

“It is at a scale where that is the most practical response. We’ve been doing spot checks using the police to make sure that’s where they are.”

“We’ve tried to be very pre-emptive,” on restrictions, Ardern said. 

“We’ve tried to stay ahead of what might happen with our cases. We will keep looking to do that. I really want to implore people - be prepared to work from home, be prepared to avoid non-essential travel.

“If we move into a phase of where we’ve got outbreaks in different parts of New Zealand, we should all be prepared for that. But we do have the ability to respond regionally. 

“If we have community outbreaks in different parts of the country, then you might see an escalation to that kind of response.” 

But there is no evidence New Zealand currently has community transmission, Ardern said. 

“There’s a couple of different things we have to consider with schools.

“The model we're taking with mass gatherings... It’s the same model that’s been used in countries that have been pretty successful in managing Covid-19 - that is to date, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan. What they’ve done with schools is where they've had a case connected to a school, then they shut down.

“In Dunedin when we had a case connected, we shut the school down, we did that for 72 hours. That gives you enough time to contact trace.”

Also Ardern said evidence shows Covid-19 does not survive on a surface for 72 hours, so with cleaning, a 72-hour shutdown ensures schools are safe. 

“We’ll be managing Covid around the world for potentially months, so we have to think in that frame of mind, and how we can sustain our response.”

Ardern said based on the current trajectory the Olympics seem unlikely. 

She also said she has no intention of changing New Zealand’s election date. 

If she gets a cold, the Prime Minister said she will do the same thing she’s asking everyone to do - restricting contact with others. 

“I’m setting up provisions so that I can work from anywhere… It’ll be pretty hard to keep me wherever I am from doing my job.”