Travellers from China to Australia will be required to have a negative pre-departure covid-19 test from January 5 — and New Zealand says it is now assessing the health risks.

China has seen skyrocketing covid case numbers, and a range of other countries including the United Kingdom, the United States and France have also imposed testing requirements.

NZ government duty minister Stuart Nash said tonight that New Zealand was currently assessing the situation.

“I’ve been informed today that Australia has announced pre-departure testing for travellers arriving from China. This measure is being taken in response to the rapidly unfolding situation in China,” he said.

“New Zealand has a public health risk assessment under way which will be completed in the next 24 hours.

“Our response will remain proportionate to the potential risks posed by travellers and in the context of the international situation.”

New Zealand, to date, had said it has no plans to introduce testing for Chinese visitors, the Ministry of Health said last week.

An ‘abundance of caution’
Australia’s Health Minister Mark Butler said this decision was taken out of an “abundance of caution” and a temporary measure due to the lack of detailed information about the epidemiological situation in China.

“That lack of comprehensive information has led a number of countries in recent days to put in place various measures — not to restrict travel from China, it’s important to say — but to gather better information about what is happening epidemiologically in that country,” he said.

Butler said the government warmly welcomed visitors from China, and Australia was “well positioned right now in the fight against covid”.

“The resumption of travel between China and Australia poses no immediate public health threat to Australians,” he said.

Butler said universities and the tourism industry would also welcome the resumption of travel from China, as would people who had long been separated from their family and friends.

“We know there are many many hundreds of thousands of Chinese Australians who have been unable to see family and friends for months — and, in some cases, years — and their ability to do that over the coming period will be a matter of considerable joy for them, particularly as we head into the Lunar New Year period,” he said.

Butler said that, although the subvariant that appeared to be driving the wave in China was already present in Australia, the situation was “developing very quickly”.

Concerns over new variant
“There are concerns, in an environment of cases spreading so quickly, about the possibility of the emergence of a new variant,” he said.

“Now there’s no evidence of that right now.

“This is a measure taken out of an abundance of caution to provide Australians and the Australian government with the best possible information about a fast-evolving situation.”

Butler said the Chinese government was informed about the measures this morning.

“It won’t come as any surprise to the Chinese government that Australia is putting this arrangement in place, I don’t think, given the broad range of countries that have taken similar steps over the last 48 to 72 hours,” he said.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. 

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

More moves to tighten the New Zealand’s borders may be needed on top of the decision to delay the start of the self-isolation scheme for Australian travellers, a professor of public health says.

Today, the government announced cabinet has decided to delay the self-isolation scheme.

Instead of travellers being allowed to self-isolate from January 17 the change will take effect from the end of February.

For those who had booked to come home to New Zealand from Australia from January 17, the government would work with airlines to ensure some MIQ space was available, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said at a media update.

Air New Zealand has already cancelled about 120 flights, mostly from across the Tasman, as a result of the changes.

The rapid spread worldwide of the omicron variant of covid-19 is the main reason for the policy rethink.

It is among changes announced today that include a vaccine rollout for five to 11 year olds from January and a reduction in the time to wait for booster shots — from six months to four months.

Public health experts welcome change
The changes are being welcomed by public health experts, with Professor Nick Wilson from Otago University saying that the delay in self-isolation was the most important.

He said temporarily turning down the tap on international travellers from countries with the worst omicron outbreaks (at least for two to three months) may also be needed.

New South Wales officials over the weekend noted omicron was now likely the dominant strain in the state’s third outbreak, in which today alone it recorded more than 3000 cases.

But Professor Wilson said the government may also need to:

• insist on rapid antigen tests at the airport for international travellers coming into Aotearoa;
• make more improvements to MIQ facilities in terms of ventilation and avoiding shared spaces such as exercise areas; and
• re-design the alert level system so that it can rapidly eliminate any outbreaks of the omicron variant that arise in the community.

“While there is still a lot of uncertainty around the omicron variant, especially the risk of severe disease, it is wise to try to keep it out of NZ as long as possible and until more is known about this variant,” Professor Wilson said.

No clear evidence of lower severity
Dr Matthew Hobbs, a senior lecturer in public health at the University of Canterbury, said he was concerned that a recent study from Imperial College London showed no clear evidence that omicron had lower severity than delta.

“Though it will be disappointing for many, through reviewing and postponing current border reopening plans, New Zealand has bought itself some much needed time while it works out how much of a problem omicron could be — like the last time we closed the Trans-Tasman bubble,” he said.

“It also provides us with a few more crucial months to get the booster shots up and roll out the paediatric vaccines.”

Dr Hobbs suggested the vaccination requirement for arrivals could be raised to three doses to reduce the risk of Omicron coming to New Zealand.

“More broadly, we also need to shift our domestic focus to a global perspective. The root of this issue is that the world isn’t doing enough to stop the spread of covid-19,” Dr Hobbs said.

“Wealthy countries around the world continue to hoard vaccines. This ultimately gives the virus more opportunities to replicate and mutate.

“Omicron should act as the wake-up call to ensure worldwide equitable vaccine delivery before even more concerning variants emerge.”

Omicron would ‘reach NZ quickly from Australia’
Professor Michael Plank, from Te Pūnaha Matatini and the University of Canterbury, said the rapidly growing omicron outbreak in New South Wales and its spread to other Australian states meant it would almost certainly get into the community in New Zealand within weeks if the country went ahead with border reopening plans in January.

“Delaying reopening plans to the end of February gives us a chance to keep omicron out until the majority of adults have received their third dose of the vaccine,” he said.

“Increasing the MIQ stay to 10 days and shortening the pre-departure test period from 72 to 48 hours are sensible ways to reduce the risk of the highly transmissible Omicron variant leaking out of MIQ. Adding a requirement for a rapid test on the day of the departure would be a useful extra measure.

“Hopefully these measures will keep omicron contained at the border. But if omicron does find its way into the community, the government has said it intends to use the red level of the traffic light system to try and control its spread.

“It’s unlikely this would be sufficient to prevent rapid spread of the variant if community transmission became established.

“Rolling out booster doses as quickly as possible is therefore essential to minimising the risk that omicron overwhelms our healthcare system.”

Hipkins also noted in the announcement today that the variant would spread quickly if it was in the community, and that public health advice suggested that soon every case coming into our border will be the omicron variant.

28 new covid-19 community cases
The Ministry of Health reported today there are 28 new cases of covid-19 in the community, and no new omicron cases in Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ).

In a statement, the ministry said of the new cases, 21 were in Auckland, five in Bay of Plenty, and two in Taranaki.

There are 57 cases in hospital, 10 in North Shore, 25 in Auckland, 19 in Middlemore, one in Northland, and two in Waikato. Seven cases are in ICU or HDU (one in North Shore; two in Auckland; three in Middlemore, one in Northland).

The ministry has also revealed that a recent returnee who left Middlemore Hospital without discharge, after being transferred from MIQ, also took their young child with them.

The child was transferred in the ambulance with the parent because it meant they could not be left unattended in managed isolation due to their age.

Police are currently investigating the incident which happened early on Monday morning.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. The public health comments in this report were put together by the Science Media Centre. Professor Michael Plank is partly funded by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet for research on mathematical modelling of covid-19.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

By Sri Krishnamurthi

Former Director of Public Health Dr Colin Tukuitonga says it is incumbent on New Zealand to screen passengers travelling to and from the Pacific Islands thoroughly for the Covid-19 coronavirus.

Coronavirus continues to proliferate rapidly outside China where it originated, topping 90,000 cases and 3000 deaths worldwide.

There was risk of “devastating” the Pacific Islands, just as the measles outbreak did in Samoa last year with 5700 cases of measles and 83 deaths, out of a Samoan population of 200,874.

READ MORE: Coronavirus deaths in US rise to six – latest updates

“As for having something like the measles epidemic in the Islands, for example flights to and from Niue are to New Zealand first, and if New Zealand doesn’t scan all the passengers thoroughly then there is a chance of this virus spreading into the Islands,” Dr Tukuitonga said.

“In public health we use what we call as the precautionary principle where we do not have all the information that we need. The natural history of the coronavirus infection remains unknown.”

Dr Tukuitonga, who is the inaugural associate dean Pacific of Auckland University’s Health and Medical Sciences Faculty, said: “New Zealand doesn’t seem to be as concerned about the assessment and spread of the coronavirus. It has spread very quickly in Italy and South Korea.”

He recalled his time as the chief executive officer of the then Ministry Of Pacific Island Affairs in 2009 when there was an outbreak of influenza A (H1N1) 09, (swine flu) particularly among Pacific people.

No large gatherings
“Someone from the Pacific Media Network interviewed me and I recall I made a statement then that people shouldn’t congregate in large gatherings in the community, and I am of the same view now,” he said.

Minister for Pacific Peoples ‘Aupito William Sio said his advice, posted on social media was: “Not be scared but be prepared”.

“Given Samoa’s warning to our people travelling to Samoa, given coronavirus, what messages can you share with us to help our community?” he asked Dr Neru Leavasa on a Facebook post.

Dr Leavsasa emphasised that prevention was better than a cure approach.

“As a precautionary step, if you are coughing, rather than coughing into your hand, cough into the crook of your elbow, and if you do sneeze then use a tissue and get rid of it and wash your hands.”

The minister was also asked by Mangere-Otahuhu Local Board chair Lemauga Lydia Sosene: “What about large gatherings?”

He replied: “That’s a problem because we love to greet and hug, I’m going to suggest that instead of the greeting, hugging and kissing, that people give a thumbs up, nod and the bent-elbow sign in greeting.”

Close contact warning
Dr Leavasa warned about close contact.

“Yeah, elbow pump, but pretty much no hand contact, if you do then wash your hands for about 20sec,” Dr Leavasa said.

The Minister for Health, David Clark, has told Pacific Media Network it was safe to attend the Pasifika and Polyfest festivals.

“We’re confident at this stage the chance any spread into the community is very low, as long as people take sensible precautions,” Clark said.

Agnes Loheni, the National Party’s associate spokesperson for Pacific people urged caution and for people to be extra vigilant with proper hygiene practices.

“Serious illnesses such as the flu tend to have a worse toll in Māori and Pacific communities, especially if there are other issues such as overcrowded and inadequate housing,” she said.

“The recent measles outbreak in South Auckland showed how quickly highly contagious illness can spread so we need to make sure we’re doing everything we can to minimise the impact of coronavirus” she said.

As of yet, no cases have been recorded in the Pacific Islands.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

By RNZ News

A man has died of the Wuhan coronavirus outside China, and any foreign travellers who leave from or transit through China will be refused entry to New Zealand from tomorrow.

A 44-year-old Chinese man from the city of Wuhan, where the new coronavirus was first detected, died today in hospital in the Philippines, the country’s Department of Health has said.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed it is the first death from the virus outside China.

READ MORE: NZ evacuees from Wuhan to be quarantined at Whangaparaoa

The New Zealand government announced at a press conference this afternoon that strict travel restrictions have been introduced in response to the outbreak.

Any foreign travellers on their way to New Zealand when the announcement was made will be subject to increased screening on arrival. If they are cleared, they will be allowed into the country.

New Zealand citizens and permanent residents, and their immediate family, will be allowed to enter the country but will need to isolate themselves for 14 days after arrival.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade has also raised its travel advice for China to “Do not travel”, the highest level.

Public health advice
“Cabinet convened last night to discuss the most up-to-date public health advice, and recent developments in the spread of the virus,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.

“We have been advised by health officials that while there are still a range of unknowns in the way the virus is being transmitted, we should take a precautionary approach and temporarily stop travel into New Zealand from mainland China, and of people who have recently been in China.”

She said the measures were critically important to protect New Zealanders, and to play a part in global efforts to contain the virus.

“I am particularly mindful that we are a gateway to the Pacific, and must factor that into our decision making,” Ardern said.

The US and Australia are among other countries who had earlier announced similar restrictions.

“We have been in close contact with our partners in the past 24 hours, and I have spoken on multiple occasions with [Australian] Prime Minister Morrison to ensure we are each aware of any changes to our systems, and the wider impacts given the frequent travel between our two nations,” Ardern said.

“The decision of the US to put in place similar restrictions to those decided by Cabinet has had a knock on effect in terms of travel, leading Air New Zealand and other airlines to stop their flights from China.”

Shanghai route suspended
Air New Zealand has announced it will suspend its Auckland Shanghai route from today until March 29.

Its service departing Shanghai Pudong International Airport shortly after 2pm local time will be the airline’s final flight on this route for two months. Tonight’s Auckland-Shanghai service is cancelled.

Air New Zealand said the suspension was brought forward following the increased border restrictions.

Ministers will be working with industry leaders to try to lessen economic effects of the restrictions, including on tourism, education and the primary sector, Ardern said.

This article is republished under the Pacific Media Centre’s content partnership with Radio New Zealand.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz