Covid 19 coronavirus: New Zealand ‘dragging the chain’ in the transtasman bubble

New Zealand could now open non-quarantine travel with several Australian states, says a leading epidemiologist in Melbourne.

“It is safe for New Zealand to have quarantine-free arrivals from most of Australia,” Professor Tony Blakely, a specialist in public health medicine at the University of Melbourne, told the Herald.

“In fact, it has gone further and New Zealand is now dragging the chain, compared to many states in Australia that allow the arrival of kiwis without quarantine.”

But Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern did not apologize for having a lower tolerance for cases than Australia, nor was she satisfied with the threshold for closing interregional travel in Australia.

There were only eight cases in Australia in the last 24 hours, most of them imported quarantine cases, while the ‘Covid hotspot’ status will rise tomorrow in Victoria and New South Wales.

Blakely said Victoria and New South Wales had already met the criteria for elimination of non-community cases from an unknown source for 28 days, while Queensland, Tasmania, Western Australia, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory did. they had achieved for a long time.

As of tomorrow, all states and territories allowed non-quarantine travel except South Australia (WA has risk-based home quarantine rules).

“South Australia, I strongly suspect, will soon regain elimination status,” said Blakely.

“States that have been delayed [quarantine-free travel] I’ve been playing politics, not science New Zealand is in that field now, in my opinion, and it has no reason not to join a travel bubble with all Australian states and territories except South Africa, for now. “

The bubble would not only provide an injection for tourism and the broader economy, but it would also free up around 40 percent of beds in New Zealand-run quarantine and isolation facilities.

Blakely said that any new mystery case in the community would cause a state or country to leave the transtasman bubble until Covid is eliminated again.

But Ardern said there needs to be stricter rules to restrict travel from a “Covid hotspot” due to the risk of a Covid carrier traveling to a Covid free state and then flying to New Zealand.

The hotspot criterion was previously 30 cases in three days, but Ardern said that was too many.

“It can get to a place where we are free from community transmission, but it’s really so important for us to recognize what will happen when cases arise, because they will and they will.”

He agreed that the ball was on the court in New Zealand, as the Kiwis could already travel to NSW, ACT, NT and Victoria without having to quarantine themselves.

“They have already been opened, so from their perspective, it is done and dusted off. We are the easy partner in this. We have a lower tolerance for cases.”

A bubble should have national borders acting as a buffer and operate in a way that does not leave travelers stranded, he added.

“We don’t want to go in and out of trips with Australian states.”

When asked if a bubble would still be out of reach if Australia were Covid-free, but those hotspot rules were still too flexible, he said: “It’s a hypothesis we’re not in yet.”

He added that traces of the virus were found 10 days ago at a Melbourne sewage facility.

Blakely also suggested allowing fewer days in quarantine for arrivals abroad from countries with low levels of infection.

New Zealand public health experts have also suggested a similar approach, called a risk-based “traffic light” border system, which includes a negative pre-departure test and a quarantine period for travelers from high-risk countries.

But Ardern has repeatedly said that Kiwis must be able to exercise their right to return home.