Venkat Raman
Auckland, March 6, 2021
Auckland is set to move to Alert Level 2 from 6 am tomorrow (Sunday, March 7, 2021) relieved by the news that there is no community case of Covid-19 today- a sixth straight day of continued good news.
While the country’s biggest City moved out of Alert 3 (since last Sunday), the rest of the country will move to Alert Level 1 with ‘almost normal’ activities.
Programme presenters in most of the mainstream English radio stations have been angry, demanding that the government moves to Alert Level 1, their community counterparts have been ‘more responsible.’ Indian Newslink readers, for their best part, believe that Covid-19 and its Variants should not be experimented with and it is better to be safe than sorry.
One reader said, “Opinion is the least form of knowledge. There is no accountability and you are not responsible for consequences.’
Nine in Managed Isolation
The Health Ministry said that there are nine people in Managed isolation and that all of them arrived from overseas on Thursday, one from USA via Qatar and eight from India through UAE. The Managed Isolation case numbers unscored the value of 0/1.
“All people arriving in New Zealand must remain in their rooms until those day 0/1 tests results come back, and in these cases, all nine people are transferred to a quarantine facility following those positive results. It is not uncommon to see some of the day 0/1 cases be reclassified as historical cases, which are not infectious. This is why we are continuing to publish the cumulative number of historical cases,” the Ministry said in a Statement.
The total number of active cases in New Zealand is now 71, while the total number of confirmed cases is now 2042. More than 71,000 tests were processed last week.
Section 70 Health Order
Radio New Zealand quoted Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield as reiterating that a New Section 70 Health Order applies to those who may have been at an Auckland gym at the same time as one of the most recent Covid-19 cases.
“A 21-year-old MIT student went to the City Fitness Gym in Hunter’s Plaza and other places after a test and while infectious. Under Section 70, others who went to the gym at certain times must isolate at home, report for Covid-19 testing, and remain isolated until further notice. The dates and times are between 11.15am and 1.45pm on 20 February, or between 3.25pm and 4.30pm on 26 February,” he said.
Dr Bloomfield said that the Order also applies to people who have already been told they are close contacts or casual contacts of the recent community cases.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Cabinet will review the Alert Levels (especially that of Auckland) by the end of next week.
Mayor Phil Goff thankful
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said praised the Aucklanders, saying that their cooperation helped to stop the spread of the virus and requested them to continue to follow the Alert rules.
“I will continue to lobby the government to prioritise Auckland over other areas less impacted by the Virus, when the vaccine is rolled out to the public,” he said.
Health officials said that it was encouraging to see another day without any community cases but warned that New Zealanders must all remain vigilant.
“This includes staying home if you have any symptoms and phoning Healthline for advice on getting a test, wherever you are in the country, and by keeping a record of where you have been at all times. The Covid Tracer App is an easy way to do this. Please continue to scan QR codes wherever you go and turn on Bluetooth in the App dashboard if you haven’t already done so. Continue to wash your hands, and cough or sneeze into your elbow,” they said.
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