Reassurances after case found in hospital
AUCKLAND: The Ministry of Health has reassured health workers and the public after a person tested positive for Covid19 at an Auckland hospital after being transferred from an MIQ facility.
The case was one of two reported in managed isolation yesterday.
The Ministry of Health said infection and prevention controls were in place at the hospital to ensure the safety of health workers and the public.
‘‘Health services are readily available for all managed isolation guests to ensure their health needs are met, and protocols are in place to manage the welfare and safety of staff and the public. The public can be assured hospitals are safe to visit,’’ the ministry said.
The person was taken to hospital with a nonCovid19related condition. The person's routine managed isolation test returned a positive result while they were in hospital.
Officials also provided an update on the Hamilton community case, revealed on Saturday.
‘‘High CT counts and serology results for the borderrelated Hamilton case indicates the case is most likely historical and not infectious. Wholegenomic sequencing results have been inconclusive and will be rerun.’’
The public health risk, according to officials, is still considered to be low.
Meanwhile, the final 60 returnees at the Pullman managed isolation facility completed health checks and were released yesterday.
Officials say the facility is not taking any new returnees and will be deep cleaned.
They reiterated returnees have to further isolate at home for five days and return a negative test on day five after leaving the Pullman.
The returnees had to wear a mask when leaving the hotel or going for their dayfive test, the ministry said.
They will be contacted daily by health professionals for health and wellbeing checkups. If they become symptomatic after leaving the facility they are advised to call Healthline immediately.
‘‘These interim measures will be in place while a previously announced review is undertaken into how transmission occurred in the Pullman managed isolation facility and the emerging evidence of [a] Covid19 variant.’’
Including the cases reported yesterday, there are 66 active cases in New Zealand. — The New Zealand Herald
AUCKLAND: The QueenstownLakes district is expected to be New Zealand’s worsthit region when it comes to the economic cost of Covid19.
Newly released figures show the region is expected to have 9000 fewer jobs by 2022 and its economy is forecast to take a $785 million hit.
This is according to data from Infometrics, just publicly released by Treasury, which commissioned the economic forecasting agency to research Covid19’s impacts on the regions.
The data shows, perhaps unsurprisingly, that Queenstown, the country’s tourism and hospitality capital, would bear the brunt of the Covid19 economic fallout in New Zealand.
Employment in the region is forecast to drop by 28.5% by in the two years to March 2022.
It’s a similar story with the district’s economic growth. Infometrics expects that to drop by 24.8% over the period.
A large part of that hit, according to the report’s author, senior Infometrics economist Gareth Kiernan, was due to recent lack of tourism in the area.
‘‘Tourism represents an estimated 56% of the district’s economy, with almost twothirds of that spending coming from international visitors.’’
Last year, the Government shut the borders to all but returning New Zealanders in a bid to keep Covid19 out of the country.
Mr Kiernan said although increases in domestic travel have helped pick up some of the slack, spending by New Zealanders will not come close to filling the hole caused by the border closures.
There is some good news for Queenstown, according to the figures.
Overall employment in the region is expected to climb back to 27,000 by 2025.
Although that is 4000 below prepandemic levels, it is 5000 higher than the expected 2022 low point.
Otorohanga District is the only region in New Zealand not expected to have a Covid19induced employment downturn.
The figures show the number of jobs in the area bouncing 3.2% to 5231 by 2022. But by 2025, that figure was expected to fall to below prepandemic levels.
The data reveals which sectors of the economy are likely to be hit the hardest, and the accommodation and food services sector takes the top spot.
Infometrics predicts there will be 44,000 fewer jobs in that sector in March 2022 than there were in March 2020, when there were 170,000 people working in this industry.
The same sector is expected to receive the biggest employment bump in the postpandemic world.
The data predicts about 162,000 people will be working in accommodation and food services by March 2025 — a 28.7% jump from the 126,000 expected employees in March 2022.
The numbers are similar when looking at the value of the industry as a whole — the accommodation and food services sector is expected to lose $1.7 billion by 2022.
Infometrics forecasts the sector’s value to bounce back to $6.1 billion by 2025.
This might be good news, but Mr Kiernan warned the rebound did not tell the ‘‘full story’’.
‘‘The level of economic activity in the accommodation and food services industry is projected to be lower in 2025 than it was in 2020.’’ — The New Zealand Herald