Specialist: New Zealand has chance to eliminate virus

WHILE most Western countries are looking to ‘‘flatten the curve’’ in response to the outbreak of Covid19, New Zealand could achieve its goal to eliminate the novel coronavirus.

Directorgeneral of health Ashley Bloomfield said 85 new cases of Covid19, including 76 confirmed cases and nine probable had been detected in New Zealand yesterday, bringing the national total to 368.

Associate Prof James Ussher, of the University of Otago microbiology and immunology department, said New Zealand was ‘‘definitely at a different stage to almost all other Western countries’’ and the Covid19 Level 4 lockdown presented a unique opportunity.

‘‘Because it’s just an acute infection, where people get sick and then they clear the infection, there’s only a limited window in which the virus can be passed on to other people.

‘‘If we limit the opportunity for the virus to propagate, we can strangle it.

‘‘We can eliminate it, but that relies on people following the guidelines and isolating and not trying to game the system,’’ Prof Ussher said.

‘‘If it fails, then we’d be looking to flatten the curve and we might need ongoing restrictions going forward — what those will look like I guess remains to be determined.

‘‘But if we’re successful, hopefully at some point down the track, whether it be four weeks or a bit longer, we may be able to lift the restrictions — but keep the borders closed.’’

While past pandemic planning was typically based around influenza, the incubation period for Covid19 was longer.

Some infected people were not displaying symptoms up to 14 days after becoming infected by the new virus.

Despite the Hereford conference cluster, which was ‘‘probably a bit of a superspreader event’’, most cases were second generation transmissions, which he expected to be occurring over the next four weeks as the number of cases climbed.

‘‘If someone was infectious [on Wednesday] when we were still not in lockdown, then their contacts may have become infected.

‘‘There may have been some community transmission and those people . . . may become sick within the next two weeks.

‘‘We will then hopefully pick those people up.

‘‘Even if we don’t pick them up, they will be isolated and they won’t be able to pass it on to anyone else outside their household.’’