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The government has announced “significant” changes to the rules for international aircrew entering the country, but one expert says they could go further.
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There are significant changes to insulation requirements, but one expert says they could go further. Source: 1 NEWS
The ‘air border order’ makes some existing requirements for international aircrew based in New Zealand and abroad enforceable by law, and there are new rules as well.
Starting Monday, foreign-based aircrew resting in New Zealand will have to stay in a government-run isolation facility for their time in the country.
Starting October 19, weekly surveillance tests will begin for some lower risk international aircrews based in New Zealand.
Cabin crew transferring passengers to managed isolation facilities on domestic flights will also need to undergo regular testing as part of the existing border staff testing regime.
Other existing requirements will also be formalized, such as the need for crews to wear PPE in airports and airplanes.
It will also be mandatory for New Zealand-based aircrew returning from so-called high-risk countries like the US to have a test on arrival. They will have to isolate until they receive a negative result.
University of Otago epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker says he is pleased to see New Zealand closing down “areas of weakness” at the border, but is surprised that some of the rules were not yet in place.
“New Zealand has beefed up their routine border personnel testing for quite some time now, I am quite surprised that it has not been extended to the aircrew that are transporting potentially infected people around New Zealand, that would be a logical group to include,” he said.
It also says that the new isolation and testing requirements should be extended to international aircrew returning from all countries except those that have cleared the virus entirely.
“In some states of Australia, in some Pacific islands, there are places like Taiwan; Certainly, we might have a lower test requirement for aircrew in those low-risk countries, but pretty much the rest of the country has moderate to high risk. . “
Air New Zealand says that the “risk matrix” of countries is decided by the Ministry of Health, but that Hong Kong is an example of a country considered medium risk. Australia and the Pacific Islands are considered low risk.
Air New Zealand says it has had no cases among the crew since April and is pushing for less invasive saliva testing by staff.
“We strongly support ESR’s work to validate saliva testing methods for use by our team as a less invasive testing method. If saliva tests can be validated for use in New Zealand, this would greatly enhance the experience for our people, ”said COO Carrie Hurihanganui.
Although no new cases of Covid-19 were reported today, yesterday the Ministry of Health announced 12 new cases in managed isolation, 10 of which arrived on the same flight from India.
National health spokesperson Shane Reti says it reinforces the idea that New Zealand should test all returning kiwis before boarding the plane overseas, with a negative test required before travel.
“There may be people who are positive and board a flight to come to New Zealand … they put the crew and other passengers at risk.”
“We have been advocating for this for months, other countries have implemented it for months: Japan, Hawai’i. Implement it today. “
It’s an idea endorsed by Professor Baker, who says it’s about eliminating the risk of bringing Covid-19 into the country.
“This additional verification before people get on the plane should not necessarily apply to all travelers everywhere, only to the countries of origin that generate the most cases.”
“The purpose of their return to New Zealand is not medical evacuation. The result of a positive test would not be that you could not return to New Zealand, it would postpone your trip, perhaps for a month and that seems perfectly reasonable. “
Health Minister Chris Hipkins is not ruling out pre-flight tests.
“We never said we wouldn’t do it, we just said earlier that it doesn’t stack … it would need a viable international standard.”
“It’s something we’ve been exploring for some time, as more countries require it, New Zealand is more likely to do it,” he said.
