Levels raised after 3 cases

NEW ZEALAND has been thrust back into Covid19 restrictions after three community cases were detected in Auckland yesterday.

Auckland is now at Alert Level 3 for at least three days and the rest of New Zealand is at Alert Level 2, with that setting to be reviewed every day.

The three Auckland cases were in the same family and included a pupil at Papatoetoe High School, where 1400 children attend.

The mother and daughter visited New Plymouth over the Waitangi Day holiday weekend, along with two other people, and stopped in Drury and Otorohanga. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern cancelled her engagements yesterday and flew to Wellington to be briefed, following the discovery of the new cases.

An emergency Cabinet meeting was held late in the afternoon and Ms Ardern held a press conference soon afterwards, at which she announced the alert level changes.

‘‘We have stamped out the virus before and we will do it again,’’ Ms Ardern said.

Cabinet had agreed to the new alert levels ‘‘out of an abundance of caution’’.

Directorgeneral of health Ashley Bloomfield said he was unsure if the patients would have been infectious at the time they travelled, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Known close contacts of the family who saw them during that trip were now in isolation but had tested negative, he said.

The mother works for a laundry and catering company which services planes at Auckland Airport but Dr Bloomfield said officials remained openminded about the source of the cases.

She was routinely tested for Covid19 fortnightly and tested negative on January 18, before going on leave from February 5.

Dr Bloomfield said Papatoetoe High School would close today and tomorrow.

Several pupils and some teachers were regarded as close contacts and should selfisolate and seek a test, Dr Bloomfield said.

Scientists were last evening racing through genomic sequencing of the family’s test results to see if a link could be made with known cases of Covid19 in New Zealand.

The three family members have all been moved into quarantine, and extra Covid19 testing facilities have been set up in Auckland.

Queues quickly built up at some testing stations, and several extended opening hours.

The Ministry of Health also released a list of 18 known places the family had visited, in Auckland, New Plymouth and Otorohanga.

Air New Zealand has stopped offering food and drinks on domestic flights for at least 24 hours.

The community cases capped off a bad weekend for New Zealand on the Covid19 front, after the announcement on Saturday that a person with the disease had died in North Shore Hospital. Three further cases were confirmed in managed isolation facilities at the weekend.

HERE we go again. Auckland is slammed into Covid Level 3 and the rest of the country Level 2.

This is a shock after our relatively carefree summer.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Directorgeneral of health Ashley Bloomfield and the rest of us will be nervous as we see how this latest outbreak of the “tricky” virus transpires.

As of last night, three members of one family had tested positive, with suspicions being on the mother’s employment. She works with laundry at Mangere with links to overseas aircraft.

Other means could be the source of transmission, especially because the virus spreads persontoperson most commonly. It will be crucial to find the source.

Dr Bloomfield, in his efforts to reassure, likes to use the expression “an abundance of caution”.

This is the correct response.

The stakes are so high that this country must do everything possible to remain Covidfree. We must, indeed, “go hard and go early” when threats arise.

It makes sense, too, to review the measures each 24 hours. Let us get out of this as soon as we can. Let us hope, also, that Covid has not already spread insidiously and that the three days are not just the beginning.

The Government and the Ministry of Health have previously made several mistakes in the handling of Covid and with isolation facilities. Often, authorities have been reactive rather than proactive, learning after the event and after failures. We have been fortunate we have survived Covid incursions so far.

But, overall, the Government’s approach has won deserved praise from around the world and, most importantly, from this nation’s people. The resounding victory for Labour in last year’s election showed this support.

It is likely this time, as well, that the bulk of the population would rather the Government was safe rather than sorry.

This is all the more so because of the more transmissible variants sweeping the globe.

A sudden lockdown took place in Western Australia when a community case was found there. And Victoria has instituted one of these shorter sharp lockdowns as a cluster from out of a managed isolation facility grew.

These are good interim steps while the seriousness of outbreaks is assessed.

The impact of the change in alert levels from midnight last night is far from insignificant. Auckland businesses, in particular, will take another hit and further disruption.

Other implications will emerge today. Will the flow of Auckland students to the University of Otago, which is starting to gather pace, be halted for at least a few days? Travel to Australia will again be disrupted.

Wednesday’s racing in the America’s Cup has already been postponed. As with other events, it will then be a matter of waiting to see what develops and what is possible.

The importance of the first trance of vaccines being administered soon is highlighted.

It has always seemed like a matter of when not if the virus escaped into the community again.

While Ms Ardern and Dr Bloomfield might not dare to be so blunt, New Zealanders themselves continue to disappoint in failing to do their best in the fight against the possible spread of Covid.

Tracer App use has improved after the last scare but remains low. How many of us are washing our hands for 20 seconds? How many of us are isolating and getting tested when we have possible Covid symptoms?

New Zealanders will collectively be holding their breaths as the cases are investigated and as widespread testing of possible contacts in Auckland and New Plymouth takes place.

The Government, health officials and all of us will have to act with “an abundance of caution” — as well as a dose of luck — to keep this country Covidfree.