Nurses warn of crisis looming

Health bosses will discuss expanding the testing definition for coronavirus, as the nurses’ union warns of a looming ‘‘crisis’’ when the country gets a case.

Yesterday, director of public health Dr Caroline McElnay confirmed there were still no cases in New Zealand.

A technical advisory group would be meeting today to assess the ‘‘evolving global situation’’ and what actions the Health Ministry needed to take to respond to the situation, she said. ‘‘This will include looking at expanding our case definition for testing.’’

McElnay said if people had recently returned from a country or region with a spike in cases – for example South Korea, Italy or Iran – and were displaying symptoms including fever, difficulty breathing or a cough, it was important to contact Healthline.

She said the ministry was working with DHBs and primary health organisations to ensure the supply of personal protective equipment.

But the NZ Nurses’ Organisation said it expected a crisis for the public health system, when coronavirus hits New Zealand.

It supported the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists’ view, which said last week that if coronavirus hit at the same time as the flu winter surge season, it would put hospitals at ‘‘breaking point’’. ‘‘We applaud the work being done by the Ministry of Health to prepare for a pandemic, but the reality is that if we don’t have the staff – the nurses and health care workers – on hand when the crunch comes we could well find ourselves in crisis.’’