EXPERTS URGE LONGER ISOLATION

Pre-flight quarantine and a week of self-isolation post quarantine are possible options for a better Covid19 response, in the wake of a new probable community case, experts say.

Yesterday’s announcement of a probable community case in Northland, a recent returnee who had completed 14 days in managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ), has raised questions about the effectiveness of our system.

Concerns have been growing for weeks among epidemiologists that Kiwis are becoming complacent with our last line of defence, as QR code scanning hits a low. So far there was no evidence of community transmission to anyone else, but with contact tracing made harder by the public’s ambivalence, an outbreak now would be much harder to manage, they said.

Since September last year, epidemiologist Michael Baker has called for stricter rules for returnees after a man tested positive more than a week after leaving managed isolation.

Reacting to the news yesterday, Baker told Stuff people leaving MIQ should have to self-isolate for another week at home, stay away from work or school, and wear a mask in public.

Baker said it would at least be sensible for people to limit their movements and reduce social activities in the week after leaving quarantine — no events, no work or school, and masks worn outside the house.

Contact tracing should be the last line of defence. ‘‘The biggest thing for me is to turn down the number of people coming through the facilities,’’ he said.

‘‘It’s all about systems, it’s not about individuals. The goal should be for no infected person to arrive in the country.

‘‘It would be much more efficient to change the system for

300 people getting on flights, rather than the five million people in New Zealand.’’

The most extreme end of that scale would be to suspend arrivals from hot-spot countries, and the less extreme would be to make predeparture isolation mandatory before getting on a flight to New Zealand.

During a press conference yesterday, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said the new community case was a 56-year-old woman who had recently been in MIQ at the Pullman Hotel in Auckland, after returning from Europe.

She had tested negative twice in isolation, but had reported feeling sick several days after leaving isolation.

The woman started feeling mild symptoms on January 15, including muscle aches, and began feeling sicker over time. A positive Covid-19 test was returned on Saturday evening.

The next step would be a second PCR test and genomic sequencing to determine the source of infection, from which results were expected to take 24 hours, he said.

The woman, who lives south of Wha¯ nga¯ rei, had been ‘‘extremely assiduous’’ in recording her visits, and did have Bluetooth turned on, he said.

Epidemiologist Dr Siouxsie Wiles said there were three possible scenarios. Despite the long time frame, it was still possible the woman was infected in Europe before she left, caught it en-route, or was infected in managed isolation.

‘‘It’s all about systems, it’s not about individuals. The goal should be for no infected person to arrive in the country.’’ Michael Baker

Epidemiologist