New Zealand Government should look at closing border to UK arrivals: Professor
Auckland: A public health expert is urging the New Zealand Government to seriously consider temporarily closing the border to arrivals from the UK and review the border system, with the new strain rife there now thought to be more deadly as well as far more infectious.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced overnight that government scientists now believe the new variant there may be 30 per cent more deadly.
The evidence of several UK health bodies has been assessed by scientists on the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag) which advises the NZ Government.
The group concluded there was a
“realistic possibility” that the virus had become more deadly, but this is far from certain.
New Zealand’s Ministry of Health here confirmed the variant, known as B.1.1.7, has been detected in 29 people in our quarantine system. Another seven people in MIQ have tested positive for the South Africa variant, which also spreads more easily, but so far no evidence suggests it causes more severe disease.
Otago University public health professor Nick Wilson said this was now the most dangerous period the country has faced since the August outbreak.
“Because of the change in the virus, it is really time to take that increased risk more seriously,” Professor Wilson said.
“We really do need a serious look at reducing the number of infected people arriving, and improving the quality of the whole border control arrangements.”