The Health Minister David Clark says the public health system is readying itself to move quickly if there's a community outbreak of Covid-19 - but we're not there yet.
Testing capability is also being rapidly scaled up, and health workers are on high alert to monitor for any signs of community transmission, ready to take more stringent measures if necessary.
Health Minister David Clark Photo: RNZ/Dom Thomas
Meanwhile the Health Ministry strategy has changed slightly from trying to flatten the curve to managing a series of smaller peaks of outbreaks.
It follows new research from Britain's Imperial College of Medicine that showed mitigation efforts that simply soften the peak of the pandemic would still overwhelm the health system.
Dr Clark said the new research has become a key focus across government in the last week.
“What we’ve seen is that those countries that have had success have had really rigorous arrangements in place. They’ve had a lot of tools in the toolkit and they’ve used them - the likes of Singapore and what we’ve seen in Taiwan. Those that have been more hands-off, most of Europe and what we’re seeing emerging out of the United States, have not had the same level of success.
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“What’s immediately apparent in all examples is that, if we can keep this out, we should do that - and that’s why we have taken these unprecedented measures.”
Dr Clark says that means the government will bring in a stricter regime to contain the virus, and then have the option of relaxing those measures.
“You’ve seen already some a couple of steps in those directions like closing some schools for short periods time where we’ve had some concern about whether there might be students who’ve been exposed.”
While he can’t predict whether we’re likely to see community transmission in the coming days, Dr Clark says we shouldn’t be surprised to see more cases confirmed, particularly with Kiwis now coming home from around the world.
Dr Clark says the government is rapidly scaling up testing capabilities and now has four testing centres across the country.
“One of the constraints here is the number of people who are available and able to do the tests - they’re now doing shifts.”
He says a community transmission will trigger a response at the local level in the first instance.
“We will want to move quickly, if we see a community outbreak, to implement other measures and that will entirely depend on the circumstances. If it’s in a workplace, then we might want to make sure that all people within that workplace are in self-isolation. If it’s a community setting, we may restrict travel.”
He says we’re in a ‘new normal’ and the government will have the powers to direct universities and schools to close if they need to.
“We’re not at that stage yet and it’s important that people keep calm and are focused on the things they can actually do themselves. If they’re unwell, stay at home; washing your hands frequently; making sure you’re not standing within spitting distance; making sure you’re coughing into your elbow. Those are sensible things that everybody can do that keeps themselves safe, keeps their families safe, and with that, keeps New Zealand safe.”
