New Zealand has managed to keep COVID-19 under control. They were extremely aggressive with their response to the virus and instituted a full country lockdown in March when they only were starting to see cases in the population.
It seems their plan has worked because this is the chart of daily cases in New Zealand.
New Zealand is now down to Alert Level 1. They’re getting 0-2 new positive cases a day and right now all of those patients are at managed isolation and quarantine locations. Getting to Level 1 means the international border was relaxed and New Zealand citizens, permanent residents and residents with valid travel conditions returning to New Zealand could return.
The immigration office reminds everyone that New Zealand’s border is closed to most travellers and entry is strictly controlled. All arrivals are tested for COVID-19 and a 14-day managed quarantine or isolation is mandatory.
There’s not a whole lot of international traffic to Auckland Airport and I see five flights on the schedule for this Friday from Singapore, Dubai, Sydney and Samoa.
A restriction for anyone entering New Zealand is a mandatory 14-day managed quarantine. A new problem for New Zealand is that with an increased number of passengers arriving, you also need to have a suitable number of places to house them.
Not wanting to paint themselves into a corner, New Zealand’s government came to an agreement with Air New Zealand to stop selling international tickets because there is worry about overreaching the capacity at quarantine facilities. Current ticket holders can still enter New Zealand, subject to the availability of quarantine space.
The New Zealand government doesn’t want to prevent citizens from coming home, so they’re looking for options and are considering an unlikely solution. Using cruise ships to quarantine and isolate passengers.
“I think everything is on the table at this point,” Health Minister Chris Hipkins said at a press conference on Tuesday when asked about the use of ships as isolation facilities.
They really have to be looking at every option to put housing people under quarantine and isolation on a cruise ship into the conversation.
If New Zealand’s government’s past response to keeping COVID-19 at bay is any indication, whatever plan they come up with will be well thought out, based on science and designed to put a priority on the health of the citizens.
#stayhealthy #staysafe #washyourhands #wearamask
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
Cover photo licensed under CC0 1.0 Universal
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