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No new cases but we need wait says Bloomfield

Venkat Raman
Auckland, May 4, 2020

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield

There have been no new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand but that does not mean that the country can come out of the Emergency, Director General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said.

Speaking at a media conference a short time ago, he described the day as ‘One moment in time.’

“The real test is later this week when we factor in the incubation period for the virus and the time it takes for people to display symptoms which is generally five to six days after exposure,” he said.

Dr Bloomfield said that based on the indications that are available over the weekend, he will advise the Prime Minister about moving from Alert Level 3 to the next lower level.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will then discuss the issue with her Cabinet and make an announcement a week today (Monday, May 11, 2020).

Impatient politicians

There have been angry calls on talkback shows on radio, and postings on social media over the government’s decision to remain on Alert Level 3 even though the number of cases has been declining over the past few days.

And today’s ‘zero figure’ has accentuated such thoughts.

Opposition Parties- National and ACT – have also shown their impatience, quoting job losses, businesses going under and the general gloom and doom.

Politicians on the opposing side and people in general must hold the government to account but in times of war, they should exercise restraint and consider the larger interest of the country.

The world is in a state of war with Covid-19 pandemic.

It is wrong to quote countries that have opened up their economy or never closed it as examples for New Zealand to open up. Most of these countries, which relaxed rules, have had a surge in the number of cases and deaths. New Zealand cannot at any time take such a risk.

As Ms Ardern and Dr Bloomfield have repeated said, “We should not squander the gains that we have made over the past few weeks. We went hard and we went early and all of us together have done well. This is not the time to take hasty decisions.”

The key to a final decision on moving to Alert Level 2 or lower will depend not just on the number of cases over the weekend but also on the number of tests held.

The Numbers today

Dr Bloomfield said that with no new cases to report, the total number of confirmed and probable cases remains at 1487, of which 1137 cases have been classified as confirmed. The total number of deaths due to Covid-19 remains at 20; there are four persons in hospital but none in ICU.

He said that 2473 tests were conducted on May 3, 2020, taking the total number of completed tests is 152,696.

Flu Vaccines available

Dr Bloomfield said that people should take the flu vaccines which have been distributed to GPs, pharmacies and various other places.

“Vaccines are important not for Covid-19 but for general health. We have so far vaccinated more than 451,000 people who are 65 years and above so far this year, exceeding the total number vaccinated during the whole campaign last year. The number of Maori over 65 vaccinated this year is also higher than the number vaccinated the whole of last year,” he said.

Trans-Tasman bubble

There have been calls to open up Australia and New Zealand for two-way travel, expanding the so called, ‘Trans-Tasman Bubble.’

Dr Bloomfield said that there is an agreement at the highest level on this issue.

“We are working very closely with our Australian counterparts on what those key public health pillars would need to be around; how we are testing and identifying, isolating cases and contacts; on contact tracing and our ability to exchange information smoothly,” he said.

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