Mandatory mask flaws: expert
Baker sees lax attitude in airport waiting areas
Epidemiologist Michael Baker believes there are gaps in the new mandatory mask rules, specifically in security queues and at boarding gates of airports.
To achieve limited spread of Covid-19, Baker says mask wearing should be compulsory in waiting areas before boarding public transport or flights.
He said it was a gap in the mandatory mask policy that “should be looked at seriously”.
Wellington-based Baker travelled to Auckland yesterday and noticed little mask-wearing or social distancing while passengers waited to board their flights.
He asked Air New Zealand staff when they expect passengers to put on their masks. The response was that masks should be worn once passengers boarded the plane.
On the flight back to Wellington he noticed a few more passengers were wearing masks before boarding but said it was a minority.
Baker said the “density” of people at airports means passengers should be expected to wear masks while waiting to board flights.
He did acknowledge the country was “fine-tuning” mask-wearing.
Auckland Transport chief executive Shane Ellison said he was pleased with the public’s response to the mask policy yesterday.
“I’d like to thank Aucklanders for doing the right thing. At Britomart between 90 and 95 per cent of people were wearing face coverings, which is great,” he said.
“If you forgot your mask we have AT staff and police at key stations handing out masks but we’re finding most people are aware of the rules and there haven’t been any issues.”
The public transport rules do not apply to school buses, and children under 12 are exempt from wearing face masks. People with a disability or physical or mental health condition that makes covering their face unsuitable do not have to wear face coverings either.
There will be other times when it is not required — such as in an emergency.
Masks on public transport were introduced after a young woman in her 20s had tested positive for Covid19 last week. The AUT student, who works on High St and lives in an apartment block on Vincent St, had been to various places around the city before testing positive.
As a result, the CBD was effectively put into lockdown last Friday as authorities worked to figure out how she became infected.
It was later confirmed that she was genomically linked to a Defence Force staffer who tested positive for Covid-19 earlier and who had been in the area where she worked.
The ministry said wide testing around the Defence Force cluster gave them confidence there were no possible undetected links.
But the mystery remains how the AUT student came into contact with the first defence worker and was infected. She subsequently infected a neighbour in her inner-city Vincent St block of flats.
All five cases in the cluster can be genomically linked.
Meanwhile, health officials confirmed Samoa’s first case of coronavirus transited through New Zealand. The sailor flew out of Auckland on a repatriation flight to Samoa on Friday, but tested positive on Wednesday while in managed isolation. A subsequent test yesterday was negative.
A Ministry of Health spokeswoman told the Herald the confirmed case in Samoa had been in transit through New Zealand.
Last Friday, 274 passengers flew from Auckland to Samoa on an Air New Zealand flight. The passengers are currently in quarantine facilities — hotel establishments — around the island nation and are about to complete their first week in managed isolation.
There were two new Covid-19 cases at the border yesterday. One came from Moscow via London, Qatar and Brisbane on November 14 and the other arrived from Dubai on the same day. There are 37 active cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand.