The first person in New Zealand to be infected with the coronavirus is on the mend as travel restrictions on visitors from northern Italy and south Korea are introduced.
Fifteen people who sat near the man on a flight to Auckland from Iran via Bali have self-isolated, with the majority of them in Auckland and two in the South Island. Ten passengers on the Emirates flight have been uncontactable, prime minister Jacinda Ardern said in a press conference on Monday, but they posed no risk to the public as they were not seated near the infected person.
The prime minister said New Zealand’s health authorities were prepared for a pandemic outbreak, and her cabinet on Monday agreed travel restrictions would now apply to people arriving in New Zealand from the “hotspots” of northern Italy and South Korea.
These people would be instructed to self-isolate for two weeks, with the prime minister saying their compliance would be monitored by health officials.
Research had shown high compliance with self-isolation requests in New Zealand, the PM said. “We are not predicting the worst but we are planning for it,” Ardern said.
“The global situation continues to change rapidly and effective border managements remains the best line to protect New Zealanders.”
Health minister Dr David Clark said self-isoaltion was a proven method of containment and was deemed the best course of action to minimise risk.
“It recognises that while there are outbreaks in both countries [Italy and south Korea] they also have well developed health systems, and the outbreaks are largely located in specific regions.”
“We know self-isolation works. It is a longstanding and successful approach to managing infectious diseases – and has proved its worth again in recent weeks.”
A total travel ban only applies to people travelling to New Zealand from mainland China and Iran. This has meant that 12,000 university students are unable to take up their studies, with universities set to lose tens of millions of dollars.
Ardern said it was “reasonable” to extend the travel ban to Iran where the health system was not equivalent to New Zealand’s, and there had been cases of under-reporting of the virus.
New Zealand’s pandemic response plan was now “operational” around the country, Ardern said, and had been since mid-January. “It is a significant event but we need to add a layer of reassurance – this is a situation New Zealand is prepared for” she told Morning Report.
“Other countries that have experienced cases have contained and stopped wider community outbreak, and we have done very well to date to have the low incidence we have in this country.”
About 300 people are temporarily out of work on the east coast of the North Island, Ardern said, as shipments of wood to China have struggled to get through. These people would be employed in government forestry projects or skills-shortage areas, Ardern said, to minimise the financial impact. The tourism industry had also been granted an NZ$11m relief package, which it was using to attract visitors from the US and Australia, rather than China.
On Monday Air New Zealand slashed 1000 domestic airfares to just $9 in response to low demand for services.
At the weekend reports emerged of New Zealanders swarming supermarkets to stock up on tinned food and hand sanitiser, with some supermarkets restricting entry to stop crowding or panic.