New Zealand’s latest Covid cluster is ‘tied up’, but is it enough for Auckland to move to Tier 1?

By RNZ

New Zealand’s only remaining cluster of Covid-19 cases appears to have been eliminated after having only one new case linked to it in two weeks.

Its origin remains unknown, but alert level 1 attracts Auckland.

Health and data researchers say we look good, but level 1 should come with conditions.

In the last two weeks there have been eight community cases and none in any of the last four days.

Public health professor Nick Wilson said the drop in cases was a success story for New Zealand health authorities and the public.

“The situation is looking very good for Auckland. It looks like there will be downward adjustments to alert levels the next time they are reviewed,” Wilson said.

“We are really coming back hard to get the whole country Covid free.”

He said the Auckland group was almost finished, with only one new case in the past two weeks.

“It really does seem like he’s tied up and that’s fantastic. There’s always a small chance that next week he will see a case, but I’d say now it seems pretty unlikely.”

He said more positive tests could come from a separate outbreak originating from a charter flight that has generated six cases so far, but is also confident that it has been well contained.

Auckland’s core group, with 179 cases, was easily the largest the country faced, almost twice the size of any other.

Three people died: former Cook Islands prime minister and prominent physician Joe Williams, and brothers Alan and Nigel Te Hiko, with most of the cases occurring in the Pacific community.

Dr Collin Tukuitonga from the University of Auckland said that the failure to spread further was a triumph of teamwork.

“Pacific church leaders, Pacific community leaders, healthcare providers, social support providers, Pacific radio networks came together and did a good job trying to limit the spread of not only to protect the Pacific community, but to protect everyone, “Tukuitonga said.

University of Auckland data modeler Shaun Hendy said he is concerned that level 1 is not strong enough to prevent another Covid outbreak.

“I think we can certainly think about lowering the alert levels, but I think I still feel uncomfortable with level 1 in the long term, because we see these cases crossing the border a couple of times a month. That puts us at risk of another. Auckland-like group, “Hendy said.

“I think in the long term we should be a little more cautious than alert level 1.”

You’re looking for something level 1, a stance that Dr. Nick Wilson believes would be prudent, at least in the short term.

“Some upper limits on the size of indoor events, maybe a limit of 200 for a few weeks to be absolutely safe, and it will probably continue to wear masks on public transportation.”

Wilson said the country’s digital technology to help with contact tracing, such as Bluetooth or the use of telecommunications data, still lagged far behind other countries. He said improving tracking technology could help prevent a future lockdown.

The government will make a decision on moving Auckland to level 1 on Monday. If it goes ahead with easing restrictions, it would take effect from next Thursday morning.

– RNZ