New Zealand's Ardern extends lockdown to stamp out coronavirus outbreak

[snoop1130]

New Zealand's Ardern extends lockdown to stamp out coronavirus outbreak

By Praveen Menon

 

FILE PHOTO: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern during a news conference prior to the anniversary of the mosque attacks that took place the prior year in Christchurch, New Zealand, March 13, 2020. REUTERS/Martin Hunter

 

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern extended a lockdown in the country's biggest city on Friday in response to the first national coronavirus outbreak in months, sticking with a "go early, go hard" approach she said has proven effective.

 

Ardern said genomic testing has shown the latest outbreak is a different strain to the original outbreak in New Zealand earlier in the year, suggesting it was new to the country.

 

The New Zealand leader said lockdown measures in Auckland, home to about 1.7 million people, and social distancing measures across the country that were imposed on Wednesday would remain in place for another 12 days.

 

Her swift action followed the discovery on Tuesday of the country's first COVID-19 infections in 102 days, in a family in Auckland. Since then, officials have identified a total of 29 cases, all linked to the same cluster.

 

"As we have said from the start, our overall Covid-19 strategy remains elimination," Ardern said in a televised media conference. "Together, we have got rid of Covid before. We have kept it out for 102 days, longer than any other country. We can do all of that again."

 

Ardern is under pressure ahead of a upcoming general election, with the main opposition National Party accusing the government of failing to secure quarantine facilities and withholding information.

 

Ardern said contact tracing and genomic testing had found no links with the current outbreak to the country's border entry points or managed quarantine facilities. She said genome sequencing disproved the theory from some health experts that the virus could have been quietly moving through community since the original outbreak.

 

"This suggests this is not a case of the virus being dormant or of a burning ember in our community," she said. "It appears to be new to New Zealand."

 

Health Minister Chris Hipkins said earlier that genome testing suggested the new virus outbreak had originated in Britain or Australia.

 

Ardern cautioned that more cases were likely in the coming days but said she was confident officials would successfully identify the "perimeter" of the cluster - if not its source - allowing them to isolate cases and remove restrictions.

 

The earliest case authorities have identified to date is a worker at an Auckland-based cool store owned U.S.-based Americold Realty Trust <COLD.N>, who became ill around July 31. Almost a dozen other infections have been directly linked to the facility.

 

The current Level 3 restrictions in Auckland requiring people to mostly remain at home, and level 2 restrictions for the rest of the country, are not as severe as the five-week level 4 shutdown she imposed earlier in the year.

 

"I would characterise our approach as a ‘short but precautionary hold’ in an ongoing investigation that will stamp out the virus," she said of the current measures, which will last a total of 14 days, the known incubation period for the virus.

 

ECONOMY WORRIES

 

The opposition National Party has been pressuring Ardern to delay the Sept. 19 election, arguing their inability to campaign because of restrictions gave her government an unfair advantage. Ardern said on Friday she would make a decision in the next 48 hours.

 

New Zealanders celebrated when Ardern appeared to eliminate community transmission of the coronavirus with the earlier hard lockdown that forced almost everyone to stay at home.

 

There were concerns a repeat of that process would come with a huge economic cost and Ardern on Friday announced the extension of a wage subsidy scheme and mortgage deferral program to support businesses and protect jobs.

 

"Lifting restrictions now and seeing a potential explosion in cases is the worst thing we could do for Auckland and the New Zealand economy," she said.

 

Prior to the extension announcement, Westpac Banking Corp estimated the current level of lockdown measures in Auckland and the rest of New Zealand would cost the economy about NZ$300 million, or 0.5% of gross domestic product.

 

Reserve Bank of New Zealand Deputy Governor Geoff Bascand told Reuters a sustained resurgence of the virus posed "a major risk" to the bank's outlook.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-08-14

 

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[thaibeachlovers]

10 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern extended a lockdown

Surprise, surprise, surprise, NOT.

 

10 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Ardern said contact tracing and genomic testing had found no links with the current outbreak to the country's border entry points or managed quarantine facilities. She said genome sequencing disproved the theory from some health experts that the virus could have been quietly moving through community since the original outbreak.

 

"This suggests this is not a case of the virus being dormant or of a burning ember in our community," she said. "It appears to be new to New Zealand."

What she is not saying, is that the border controls have been, IMO ( and that of many ), a farce, and that comes back directly to her. Rather than let the relevant minister be the "face" of the whole thing, we have had her every day telling us the latest news on Corona, and when lockdown was over telling us that there was no community transfer due to the actions her government had taken. She claimed that they had been so successful that the Labour election campaign was more or less only about what a great job they had done "saving our lives". So, if she claimed the forefront of the response, she is now responsible for the failure of it.

Seems the election may be postponed, so no doubt hoping voters have short memories, IMO.

[torturedsole]

She's got extraordinarily big hands.  

[Kinnock]

Queen Canute can only hold back the tide for so long.

[rocket3rider]

4 hours ago, torturedsole said:

She's got extraordinarily big hands.  

Hoofs

[Bender Rodriguez]

so another country goes into the LOCKDOWN FOREVER mode

[johnmell]

Bet that family infected are popular.

[Ketyo]

They say that woman in the photo was the first one to have a baby in her office. It doesn't seem that she is very good with health and safety.

Edited August 15, 2020 by Ketyo

[Bluetongue]

The whole world is the same. At first it was flatten the curve, make sure the hospitals aren't swamped. It has morphed into continuing lockdown and restrictions in various forms or stages, with the end date said to be when a vaccine is available. They never plainly said this at the start because people would not have complied so readily. There has not been much, if anything, of a strategy for living with it in the meantime, apart from the blunt and costly weapon of increasing lockdown. Haven't seen much creative or innovative thinking from all the experts, if there is can someone let me know. Although countries that have been much worse hit do seem to me to be dealing with it in a much more pragmatic way. Ardern clearly believes NZ can sit out there in the south western pacific in the travel bubble with some tiny islands, and these quarantine breaches and resulting rolling lockdowns are acceptable for ever. I dont believe Governments, politicians, public servants or professional experts on public purses will ever come up with solutions, have no incentive to do so, and are probably in the way of any coming from elsewhere. Rant over.

[Pattaya Spotter]

Poor Stickman ????????????

[Pattaya Spotter]

11 hours ago, torturedsole said:

She's got extraordinarily big hands.  

She's the un-Trump is so many ways ????????????

[3NUMBAS]

1 hour ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

Poor Stickman ????????????

his site is a mill stone round his neck forever

[vermin on arrival]

4 hours ago, Bluetongue said:

Haven't seen much creative or innovative thinking from all the experts, if there is can someone let me know.

I will say it, but know that I will have some come and bash me over the head quickly with the death rate from their early nursing home failures (since corrected), Sweden....Interviews with main Swedish epidemiologist, Anders Tegnell, and other Swedish researchers/physicians are available only. and I can provide links to them.

 

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/sweden/

Edited August 15, 2020 by vermin on arrival

[thaibeachlovers]

On 8/15/2020 at 6:39 PM, Bluetongue said:

I dont believe Governments, politicians, public servants or professional experts on public purses will ever come up with solutions, have no incentive to do so, and are probably in the way of any coming from elsewhere

Agree. No one in government will lose their jobs ( except in the election, and I can think of several individuals I'd like to see unemployed ) and the government has not taken a pay cut, far as I know, despite  Adhern saying they would.

[MaxYakov]

Lockdown, like clinical depression, is OK (if you can afford it, that is).

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 17, 2020 by MaxYakov