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More than 1,000 complaints of possible Level 3 alert violations have been received in just three days, but Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern does not believe the kiwis are becoming a nation of “dobbers.”
Ardern joined Director-General for Health Dr. Ashley Bloomfield for the government’s daily briefing in Parliament on Thursday.
Three new confirmed cases of Covid-19 have been found, one related to an existing case, with the origin of the other two still under investigation.
“Furthermore, we have reclassified what was previously a probable case as not a case,” said Bloomfield.
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So far, there have been 1,129 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 347 probable cases, representing a combined total of 1,476.
With no additional deaths since Monday, the New Zealand figure remains at 19.
In total, 1241 have recovered from the virus, 12 more than on Wednesday. Seven people were being treated at the hospital for Covid-19, but none were in intensive care.
In his opening remarks, Ardern reiterated the need for companies to enforce social distancing, after images of takeout stores did not appear the first day outside of level 4.
Dan Arakawa / Supplied
A large crowd of people seen waiting outside BurgerFuel in Glenfield on Auckland’s north shore on the first day of Alert Level 3.
Ardern did not believe that the BurgerFuel image, widely broadcast on social media, showing a large group of customers congregating outside the Glenfield restaurant while they waited for their orders, showed that New Zealand was becoming a nation of “traffickers” .
“I’m not sure I necessarily characterize it as a dobbing, because that’s really not really in our culture as a country, but really a reflection of people who don’t want to be disappointed,” said Ardern.
David Unwin / Things
A coffee train at Cyclista Espresso Bar and Roastery maintains the two-meter social distance measure while delivering caffeine to customers. Photo Shows: Francine Whittfield and her son Beau Whittfield collect their hot chocolate and coffee.
About 75 percent of the economy was working, but with “this additional activity comes additional responsibility” to sustain the “incredible effort the team of five million has made to fight the virus,” said Ardern.
“While people can now enjoy take-out and pick-up food, it is vital that we maintain our physical distance and stay home if there is no adequate reason to be outdoors.”
“Police have an online Level 3 Violation Reporting Tool through Police 105. Starting at 5:30 PM [Wednesday], 1035 complaints were received with 277 referred to the compliance assessment team, “said Ardern.
Common complaint issues included social estrangement, business or customer violations, personal safe cafeteria operating practices, recreational activities, and specific complaints about home gatherings.
“Of these, 104 have been tasked with taking additional action by the agencies. MBIE is following some of them [the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment], Police, WorkSafe and MPI [the Ministry for Primary Industries] “It all depends on the type of default that may have occurred,” Ardern said.
Speaking about the elderly care sector’s call for asymptomatic nursing home residents returning from the hospital to be screened for Covid-19, Bloomfield said the Ministry of Health contacted the executive director of the New Zealand elders, Simon Wallace, to discuss the matter.
In a call from the scientific community to New Zealand to start developing its own Covid-19 vaccine, Bloomfield said the country would work alongside others.
Work from the Ministry of Health and MBIE was underway to finalize the country’s vaccination approach and to ensure that New Zealand was not at the end of the line once a vaccine was found.
In response to a question about establishing a trans-Tasmanian travel bubble, Ardern said “there was still a lot of work to be done” before the concept could become a reality.
Both Ardern and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison have spoken “positively” about the proposal, but both countries were still working hard to gain control of the virus, and the bubble was a “longer-term goal.”
On difficulties in distributing widely reported personal protective equipment (PPE) during the pandemic, Bloomfield said a report on the matter for Health Minister David Clark was being finalized.
Bloomfield declined to provide details on what the report found, saying he preferred the Minister read it before the details were published.
In the upcoming general election, Ardern said there were no plans to change the September 19 election date or the previous calendar.
The prime minister also told reporters that he has contacted his British counterpart Boris Johnson to congratulate him and his fiancé Carrie Symonds on the birth of their baby.
