FIRST NZ CORONAVIRUS CASE PANDEMONIUM
Panicked shoppers last night descended on supermarkets across Auckland, stocking up for what one labelled ‘the apocalypse’ after news broke that New Zealand had its first case of coronavirus. Mayor Phil Goff had earlier urged for calm after it was revealed a person in their 60s, who had flown from Iran, was in isolation at Auckland City Hospital. As the Government cracks down on travel, experts say more cases are likely.
New Zealanders are being urged to remain calm after the first case of coronavirus was confirmed here — despite public health officials saying more cases are highly likely.
After the news broke, panicked shoppers last night descended on supermarkets across Auckland to stock up on essentials. Queues more than a kilometre long snaked around stores. Residents reported canned and fresh food selling out as well as hand sanitiser and face masks.
“People at Pak’nSave stocking up for the apocalypse,” one shopper said.
“We have been doing our groceries on Friday evenings for the past four years. Never seen anything this bad.”
A New Zealand resident, aged in their 60s, is in isolation at Auckland City Hospital after arriving on an Emirates flight from Iran, via Bali, on Wednesday with a cough and difficulty breathing.
The person travelled home in a private car but felt unwell so family called Healthline. They were advised to seek medical attention and went to the hospital’s emergency department.
“All were wearing masks on arrival,” a Ministry of Health spokesman said. “As a result of the individual’s symptoms and travel history they were admitted and tested.”
Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said the person underwent two throat swabs but both came back negative for the virus.
Medical staff carried out a third test because of where the person had come from — Iran has had the second highest number of deaths from the virus — and the fact the symptoms matched the virus.
Those results came back positive yesterday afternoon.
Bloomfield said the person was in a stable condition.
“They are in an improving condition in isolation, in a negative pressure room to prevent any spread of the disease.”
He said the person wore a mask during the flight so it was unlikely they had transmitted it to other passengers. However, authorities were contacting flight crew, close contacts and people who were sitting near the individual. They would all be asked to self-isolate for 14 days.
Henderson resident Lee Moraes,
32, entered his local Pak'nSave at
9.15pm and said he noticed it was “weird” from the outset as it was hard to find a park.
“I walked in and there were no trolleys left and I thought, ‘this is ridiculous’.
“I only wanted to buy one thing — onions for a sausage sizzle and I had to wait in line for ages.
“There were people in masks all around and panic-buying stuff. Water was getting sold out.
“The hand sanitisers were gone, and the soaps were fairly dented, tissues were going, anything that was hygiene sort of stuff was being smashed.
“I tried to make a joke of it and this lady was like, ‘Aren’t you scared, why are you not scared, you should be scared’. But I think it's actually sad, people are pretty stressed.”
A staffer at a New World on Auckland's North Shore said last night the store had been 30 to 40 per cent busier than normal.
“We had a customer come up to me and say they had to get out of Pak’nSave Albany because it was like
Christmas Eve. They apparently had queues from checkout all the way back to the butchery department so they couldn't do their shopping there.”
He said it started getting busy from about 5pm and people told him they were stockpiling food because of coronavirus. “I thought there must have been some special event on.”
New Zealand is the 48th country to have a confirmed case of the virus. Last night, more than 83,000 cases were confirmed worldwide since it originated in late December in China's Hubei province. At least 2858 people had died – most in China.
Since February 3, New Zealand has restricted travel from mainland
China. Only New Zealanders or permanant residents are allowed back into the country. It was reiterated last night there would be no exemption for Chinese students.
It was announced yesterday that the same restrictions would be placed on travellers from Iran and those who had been in the country in the past 14 days would need to self-isolate.
The Government would also be bolstering the health presence at international airports. Starting today, health staff will meet all direct international flights landing from Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand.
Meanwhile, Air New Zealand is asking if some crew want to take leave without pay as the dramatic fall in demand forces the airline to cut capacity and slash fares across the Tasman.
The airline has described the fallout from the coronavirus as unprecedented and hours after releasing fares as low as $69 to Melbourne, a spokesman said it had asked some staff for expressions of interest in taking leave without pay for a “short period''.
The Ministry of Health said there was a high likelihood of sporadic cases in New Zealand but the chances of a community outbreak remains low, despite the confirmed case.
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff also urged people to remain calm: “As the gateway to New Zealand, a case of the coronavirus in Auckland was close to inevitable and health authorities are well prepared to handle it.”
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the person was a permanent resident in New Zealand and was returning home.
“They are obviously being treated with all of the precautions that you would expected and this of course is all subject to the pandemic plan that we have had in place since early January. We have been prepared for this scenario and we are now informing all of the protocols we've long had in place for a scenario such as this.
“We are prepared. This is the scenario we expected would arrive. Now that it has, we are rolling out all of the protocols you would expect.”
A public health expert says New Zealand will inevitably see “widespread transmission” of coronavirus infecting a large percentage of the population. However, most cases will be mild and not require medical attention.
“Essentially it’s going to sweep across the world across the next one to two years and infect a fair chunk of the population — maybe 30-40 per cent,” University of Otago professor of public health Michael Baker said.
Baker added New Zealand was “still a long way off social distancing measures” of its citizens — such as cancelling public events, working from home or no longer socialising
Essentially it’s going to sweep across the world across the next one to two years and infect a fair chunk of the population — maybe 30-40 per cent. Professor Michael Baker
with others.
He said basic things hygiene such as washing hands would be far more effective in preventing the virus from spreading.