New Zealand records Fresh cases of COVID19

[antycbr]

And you don’t have internal border closures, either!

cheers skip

Well in effect they're creating a border around Auckland City - but it's one tier of government doing it luckily.

 

[Seat0B]

The Kiwis have a lot more Covid 19 cases from incoming international travellers than just that one.

The Kiwis have a steady stream of incoming international travellers from a variety of countries with Covid19.

View attachment 224903

COVID-19

About the Ministry of Health’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and our long-term management strategy.

www.health.govt.nz

this is awesome information from the kiwis. Do we have something similar in Australia?

 

[VPS]

Friends in Wellington say there is a bit of panic buying there and they are putting in some restrictions

 

[Pushka]

this is awesome information from the kiwis. Do we have something similar in Australia?

I am going to bet Australia will say they arent allowed to release that much detail due to some fantasy of "privacy".

 

[moa999]

And you don’t have internal border closures, either!

Just wait till the southerners revolt.

 

[Gremlin]

She is lucky in that she has control over the whole country and everything in it as far as processes go. Federal Government is only able to send an overarching message and then each state gets to do its own little power play. And then there is council. Merde. Its easy to send a clear message when you dont have to kowtow to all flavours of politics and especially personalities and egos.

To some degree...

What Ardern has is authenticity and leadership. She's not afraid to make hard decisions and she asks people to trust her on the journey, and support her even if she makes mistakes. Her authenticity allows it. She is leading from the front, owning the decisions and the consequences. I've just finished listening to her press conference from this morning - she answered questions as honestly and as directly as she can, even if the answers weren't flattering. I haven't seen ANY of the Australian Premiers, nor the Prime Minister do that.

I look at the hotel quarantine situation as a prime example of this. Andrews is copping flak, and not without reason, for the implementation of this in Victoria yet the elephant in the room remains why this is sitting with the states at all.

International border controls are, and always have been, the responsibility of the Federal Government (Home Affairs). International quarantine matters are, and always have been, the responsibility of the Federal Government (Health and Agriculture, Water and the Environment). National crisis management also sits with the Federal Government (Home Affairs). Yet when the need arose to implement quarantine on returning guests, a matter that straddles both international border controls and international quarantine and is quite clearly a national crisis, something that should, by all accounts, rest squarely with the responsibilities of the Federal Government, the leadership simply wasn't there to make it happen. So the states were left to implement themselves and we now have five systems of international quarantine, not one. As a nation, our success in managing the virus is now beholden to the weakest of those five systems.

If Ardern had been PM of Australia, you can bet that wouldn't have happened.

Similarly, the clarity in communication is created by strong leadership and authenticity. There are plenty of personalities and egos on the other side of the ditch, but that's cut through by a leader who believes in the message and wants the message to be heard with clarity. I can't imagine Jacinda spinning a line that everyone with a job is an essential worker. Nor could I imagine her saying that she can't respond to legitimate questions about a failure in the quarantine process because it's subject to a judicial inquiry. There's nothing authentic in any of that and it degrades the rest of the message.

"There are 4 levels. This is what each level means - it's clearly spelt out without ambiguity. Auckland is now at Level 3. The rest of the nation is now at Level 2."

Again, if Ardern had been PM of Australia, you can bet we'd have a national framework that would work with our federated model, even as it supported the differing needs of each state.

Leaders lead. NZ have got one. We don't. At either state or federal level.

 

[Pushka]

If Ardern had been PM of Australia, you can bet that wouldn't have happened.

The Australian constitution would not have allowed her to over rule State boundaries in this situation. Period. That is why Palmer is doing his High Court thing but every consitutional lawyer I have heard has stated that in the early stages of the pandemic, each state has the sovereign right to restrict their border and there aint nothing that the Feds could do to stop it.

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

More details about the NZ positives and their activities....and when NZ PM knew.

Four virus cases in New Zealand

Jacinda Ardern has sought to silence a rumour that New Zealand authorities knew about the country’s new virus cases much earlier than when they revealed it.

www.news.com.au

 

[Gremlin]

The Australian consitution would not have allowed her to over rule State boundaries in this situation. Period.

Setting up an appropriate process for managing international quarantine? Nothing there would require a PM to overrule state boundaries. As mentioned, it's a federal responsibility. Or at least, it should be if you have a federal government willing to put something in place that satisfactorily met the needs of the population.

Or do you mean liaising to construct a nationally accepted framework and consistent standards? Yes, in Australia that requires exceptional collaboration skills and authenticity from the PM to achieve. The fact that the national framework so quickly fell apart speaks to this in the Australian context. But again, good leadership doesn't require overruling any state boundaries whatsoever.

 

[Pushka]

Setting up an appropriate process for managing international quarantine? Nothing there would require a PM to overrule state boundaries. As mentioned, it's a federal responsibility. Or at least, it should be if you have a federal government willing to put something in place that satisfactorily met the needs of the population.

Or do you mean liaising to construct a nationally accepted framework and consistent standards? Yes, in Australia that requires exceptional collaboration skills and authenticity from the PM to achieve. The fact that the national framework so quickly fell apart speaks to this in the Australian context. But again, good leadership doesn't require overruling any state boundaries whatsoever.

I still believe you are ignoring the State versus Federal legalities and responsibilities in for example, the management of the international quarantine.

 

[PineappleSkip]

Setting up an appropriate process for managing international quarantine? Nothing there would require a PM to overrule state boundaries. As mentioned, it's a federal responsibility.

The federal responsibility is limited to things like visas and passports, border controls at airports, anti smuggling, etc. AQIS deals with goods through airports. As soon as you leave the airport, you’ve left that realm.

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

I still believe you are ignoring the State versus Federal legalities and responsibilities in for example, the management of the international quarantine.

In my view the Departments had too much input over ‘responsibilities’. I think international arrivals (including quarantine requirements) should have been handled by the Commonwealth. It’s like Customs, so closely connected. Every time you are on a plane they talk about bio security. Quarantine must be closely connected to that. To me it was clear, Federal departments trying to wash their hands leading up to, and doubling down as a result of, Ruby Princess....I got the sense the Feds didn’t even check passports.

edit: why do Commonwealth entry form used to ask about tuberculosis?

An article by PvO. NoCookies | The Australian There used to be the Quarantine Act 1908 and now the Biosecurity Act 2015 which is meant to secure public health.

NZ have acted so quickly. They heard about the first case at about 3pm and have implemented restrictions by 12 noon the next day - less than 24 hours. This rarely happens in Australia at either Commonwealth or State level. The main exception that comes to mind was the Melbourne towers hard lockdown.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I noted in the last Adern article:

“I should add that we are also doing genome sequencing on all those who have tested positive and our recent cases and current cases in managed isolation and quarantine.” ​

So this should reveal whether it is from a relatively recent international arrival (though perhaps through airport or hotel staff), or an older case so that NZ will then have some idea how long the virus had been out and about.

However if via airfreight etc it could be from an unknown genome and as such how long it has been in the community may also be unknown.

 

[Millie]

Details on the positive cases in New Zealnd
By Luke Cooper19:45
Dr Ashley Bloomfield said the first infection was identified in a person in their 50s who presented to a local GP and tested positive twice.

Three of six other family members of the person also tested positive for COVID-19.

The original case has no history of overseas travel, so all close contacts and work colleagues across multiple workplaces have been tested and placed into isolation.

The exact source of the infection remains unknown.



New Zealand outside of Auckland moves to level 2
By Brandon Livesay19:37
Mass gatherings will once again be limited to 100 people as of tomorrow for the whole of New Zealand.
With Auckland at level 3, the rest of the nation will move to level 2.
Social distancing measures will also apply, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.
It has been 102 days since New Zealand had recorded a case of coronavirus.

Thanks for the information - intriguing ???
Wondering if I will ever get back to see my family!

 

[Pushka]

In my view the Departments had too much input over ‘responsibilities’. I think international arrivals (including quarantine requirements) should have been handled by the Commonwealth. It’s like Customs, so closely connected.

I totally agree however I’m not sure the Constitution allows it. That’s why there was the Ruby Princess issue when Feds and State Health didn’t mesh well. There are obviously issues in core alignments and responsibilities that haven’t been addressed for decades.

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

I totally agree however I’m not sure the Constitution allows it. That’s why there was the Ruby Princess issue when Feds and State Health didn’t mesh well. There are obviously issues in core alignments and responsibilities that haven’t been addressed for decades.

Getting off topic, but if you have time read commentary about the Act I mentioned and ask yourself why do Commonwealth Incoming Passenger Cards ask about tuberculosis?

 

[Seat0B]

I noted in the last Adern article:

“I should add that we are also doing genome sequencing on all those who have tested positive and our recent cases and current cases in managed isolation and quarantine.” ​

So this should reveal whether it is from a relatively recent international arrival (though perhaps through airport or hotel staff), or an older case so that NZ will then have some idea how long the virus had been out and about.

However if via airfreight etc it could be from an unknown genome and as such how long it has been in the community may also be unknown.

I'm sure the genomic testing is expensive, but it is a powerful source of information that can assist in management of outbreaks and better still, to learn lessons to prevent future outbreaks. I don't know how much we are using it here. I've heard about the Melb security guard situation and also the Crossroads hotel, but that seems to be all that are in the public domain.

As to the public domain, when the authorities are asking so much of the public, I think that means that the public domain should be getting bigger (ie more openness, not less) as part of the trust/authenticity issue that @Gremlin has been mentioning. I'm not feeling that here. If there are not enough masks, tell us that and let us make alternative arrangements (ie sewing our own) rather than saying that masks are not necessary or even, as said earlier in the outbreak, that masks could make it worse.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I'm sure the genomic testing is expensive, but it is a powerful source of information that can assist in management of outbreaks and better still, to learn lessons to prevent future outbreaks. I don't know how much we are using it here.

I know in Victoria that every test sample was getting genomically sequenced. (Edit I have not seen an update for a while and so with the second wave this may now be different. There was a 2/3 week delay on getting the genomic results early in the second wave) So I suspect other states do likewise.


Given the sheer volume of tests the cost has probably been driven down a lot.

Note that some samples cannot grow the virus and so genomic sequencing cannot be done in these cases.

 

[Seat0B]

Getting off topic, but if you have time read commentary about the Act I mentioned and ask yourself why do Commonwealth Incoming Passenger Cards ask about tuberculosis?

I'm not sure if there is something more that you are alluding to, but presumably because TB is a known infectious disease and they would quarantine anyone who said they had it at the border? Am I missing something?

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

I'm not sure if there is something more that you are alluding to, but presumably because TB is a known infectious disease and they would quarantine anyone who said they had it at the border? Am I missing something?

There was conjecture upthread about which level of government should carry out quarantining of international arrivals.