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While New Zealand is on the cusp of the Alert Level Three transition, Director General of Health Dr. Ashley Bloomfield delivers another day without a new case of Covid-19.
Only two people remain in the hospital, at the Middlemore and North Shore hospitals, but none were in intensive care, Bloomfield confirmed at the Covid-19 daily briefing in Parliament on Tuesday.
This means that New Zealand’s total confirmed and probable cases remains at 1,497, with 93 percent of the country’s cases now considered recovered.
There were also no additional deaths to report, with a toll of 21.
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“It reflects the breadth of our tests,” said Bloomfield.
Bloomfield also paid tribute to our frontline nurses on International Nurse Day, part of the International Year of the Nurse and the International Year of the Midwife.
“We are celebrating our nurses now more than ever. It is very clear that having a good, strong and well-trained nursing workforce improves health outcomes for people, our community and Whanau.”
“And every day, our nurses have played a critical role as part of our Covid response in recent months, in addition to the work they routinely do to provide fantastic care to New Zealanders,” said Bloomfield.
It was a sentiment echoed by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who recognized “all Jenny’s around the world,” referring to Kiwi nurse Jenny McGee who cared for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson during his fight against the coronavirus.
Ardern has confirmed that the small business loan scheme was now officially open, and has reported that the Salary Subsidy scheme has paid $ 10.7 billion to 1.75 million New Zealanders.
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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern acknowledged that setting restrictions for tangi and funerals was the most difficult part of establishing the level two alert framework.
There would also be additional support for companies affected by the ongoing alert framework, and the Government would deliver a specific package for tourism.
Ardern announced Monday that kiwis will be able to go out to dinner, splurge at the mall, and even cut their hair since Thursday.
But disappointment has been expressed in some quarters about the restrictions on numbers attending tangi and funerals at alert level two.
Numbers will be restricted to a maximum of 10 people, but Ardern acknowledged that this was the area that he personally found the most difficult part of the level three transition.
“Ultimately, we want to protect people,” said Ardern.
She said social gatherings were limited to 10 across the board.
On contact tracing, Bloomfield said he believed New Zealand was on the “gold standard” with at least 80 percent of cases tracked.
On a national system for tracking contacts, Ardern said the government continues to work on this.
In response to a question about concern about the potential of a second wave of Covid-19, Ardern said “of course, we are concerned about that.”
Professional and semi-professional sports will be launched at level two alert, but the government intends to provide more details on how community sport will work on Tuesday night.
Regarding media reports that the situation at Waitakere Hospital was a group waiting to happen, Bloomfield said it was important for us to learn from approaches and policies at the national level.
