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NZ's approach is zero covid-19 strategy: orders nationwide lockdown over ONE case. China, HK and Australia also taking zero covid-19 approaches.
SG has shifted from a zero covid-19 strategy. Its approach now is to treat the virus as endemic, isolate and manage clusters outbreak. No nationwide lockdown unless the healthcare system (number of hospital beds) threatens to be overwhelmed.
Which is a better strategy taking into account the safety of citizens, the economic costs of managing outbreaks, the economic costs of lockdowns, and the vaccination rate of the citizens?
FILE PHOTO: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern participates in a televised debate with National leader Judith Collins at TVNZ in Auckland, New Zealand, September 22, 2020. Fiona Goodall/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
17 Aug 2021 02:50PM
WELLINGTON: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a nationwide lockdown on Tuesday (Aug 17) after a new case of COVID-19 was discovered in the biggest city of Auckland.
The lockdown will run seven days in Auckland, but three days elsewhere. Ardern said authorities were assuming the new case was a Delta variant although this has not been confirmed.
The case is New Zealand's first locally transmitted case of COVID-19 in six months. The health department said it had yet to establish a link between the case and the border or managed isolation.
"A hard and early response is the best tool to stamp out any potential spread and everyone in New Zealand is asked to stay calm, be kind and play their part while we gather more information on the potential case," the department said.
Further details of the case were not released.
New Zealand has won widespread praise for its COVID-19 response, recording just 26 deaths in a population of five million.
But its vaccine rollout has been less stellar, with only about 20 per cent of the population fully inoculated.
Auckland has been forced into several brief periods of lockdown since an initial nationwide response last year succeeded in largely halting the virus at the border.
The most recent stay-at-home orders in the city of two million ended in March.
Officials warned last week that the presence of the Delta variant in New Zealand would trigger "a short, sharp lockdown".
SG has shifted from a zero covid-19 strategy. Its approach now is to treat the virus as endemic, isolate and manage clusters outbreak. No nationwide lockdown unless the healthcare system (number of hospital beds) threatens to be overwhelmed.
Which is a better strategy taking into account the safety of citizens, the economic costs of managing outbreaks, the economic costs of lockdowns, and the vaccination rate of the citizens?
New Zealand's Ardern orders nationwide lockdown over 1 COVID-19 case
FILE PHOTO: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern participates in a televised debate with National leader Judith Collins at TVNZ in Auckland, New Zealand, September 22, 2020. Fiona Goodall/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
17 Aug 2021 02:50PM
WELLINGTON: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a nationwide lockdown on Tuesday (Aug 17) after a new case of COVID-19 was discovered in the biggest city of Auckland.
The lockdown will run seven days in Auckland, but three days elsewhere. Ardern said authorities were assuming the new case was a Delta variant although this has not been confirmed.
The case is New Zealand's first locally transmitted case of COVID-19 in six months. The health department said it had yet to establish a link between the case and the border or managed isolation.
"A hard and early response is the best tool to stamp out any potential spread and everyone in New Zealand is asked to stay calm, be kind and play their part while we gather more information on the potential case," the department said.
Further details of the case were not released.
New Zealand has won widespread praise for its COVID-19 response, recording just 26 deaths in a population of five million.
But its vaccine rollout has been less stellar, with only about 20 per cent of the population fully inoculated.
Auckland has been forced into several brief periods of lockdown since an initial nationwide response last year succeeded in largely halting the virus at the border.
The most recent stay-at-home orders in the city of two million ended in March.
Officials warned last week that the presence of the Delta variant in New Zealand would trigger "a short, sharp lockdown".
