Covid 19 coronavirus: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s cabinet decides today on alert levels

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Freedom or a cautious continuation of elevated alert levels?

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s cabinet will decide today whether to remove Auckland from the lockdown and ease the alert level across the country after a second day in a row with no new Covid cases in the community.

The ministers will meet today at 3:00 p.m., and Ardern plans to notify the government’s decision at 4:30 p.m.

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The cabinet will examine a number of key issues, such as Papatoetoe High School’s significant test results and where exactly the latest community outbreak came from.

The subsequent meeting time means that the ministers will have reviewed the most up-to-date information on the latest outbreak in the community and the advice of experts.

As the Cabinet reflects on its decision, an expert calls on the government to place Auckland at alert level 2.5, instead of lowering the alert level to 1 or 2.

Epidemiologist professor Michael Baker was optimistic about yesterday’s figures, but cautioned that Auckland was not ready to go straight down to level 1 or 2 just yet.

Conversely, resetting “alert level 2.5” would allow Auckland to largely reopen for business, while maintaining restrictions aimed at disrupting the potential Covid transmission chain.

Today’s decision will be heavily influenced by what Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins has described as the “last pieces of the puzzle.”

On Sunday night, Ardern said Auckland would remain at alert level 3 until at least midnight tonight, with the rest of the country at level 2 for the same time frame.

Ahead of Ardern’s announcement today, all eyes will be on the Ministry of Health’s Covid-19 update, where Chief Health Officer Dr. Ashley Bloomfield will reveal if there are any new cases in the community.

No new community cases have been identified since the initial three were discovered on Sunday, encouraging results after a community test bombardment in Auckland.

Although this was “very encouraging”, Hipkins said it was “too early to speculate” on what the Cabinet would decide today.

“But a day when we get zero positive test results is always a good day,” he said yesterday.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Hipkins said the test numbers would be a key piece of information on the cabinet table tomorrow.

About 15,000 swabs were taken on Monday, about 10,500 in Auckland alone.

That number was 3379 yesterday.

“This is a great answer, and exactly what we need,” Bloomfield said.

The results of these tests will be critical to the advice Bloomfield will provide to ministers at the cabinet meeting.

Although he said this was “very encouraging”, he would not go so far as to say that New Zealand was out of the woods just yet.

This is because the Ministry of Health has dramatically increased the number of people that officials consider close contacts of the Covid-positive family.

There were 42 close contacts of the three infected relatives on Monday, but yesterday Bloomfield revealed that the number had more than doubled to 109.

And of the 36 close contacts at Papatoetoe High School, where the daughter goes to school, 22 have yet to return negative tests.

Yesterday there were again long lines at the school as students, teachers, parents and staff members waited to be tested.

Bloomfield also revealed that there are now more than 2,000 “occasional plus” contacts that the Health Ministry is following.

Another key piece of information that ministers will consider today is research on how the disease was able to enter the community in the first place.

The career theory has been that the mother, who worked at LSG Sky Chefs and handled airline clothing, was the first to catch the Covid-19 before passing it on to her daughter and husband.

However, Bloomfield said he remained “open-minded” as to whether it was actually the daughter who contracted Covid-19 first.

Speaking in yesterday’s 1:00 pm update, he said it was “exactly one of the things that we’re trying to get to the bottom of.”

Although the mother worked very close to Auckland airport, she said officials were not “rushing to conclusions” that this was the root of the infection.

“Especially since the daughter’s symptoms seem to have preceded the mother’s.”

And while Bloomfield and Hipkins faced questions from the press yesterday, so did Ardern of the Opposition.

Question time in a socially distanced Parliament yesterday was dominated by Covid-19.

During questioning of national leader Judith Collins, Ardern revealed that she learned of the new community cases only 90 minutes before they were reported to the public.

Although Ardern learned of the new cases at 11 a.m. Sunday morning, Bloomfield told the AM Show yesterday that he learned of the case at 10 p.m. the night before.

But the central idea of ​​National’s attack was around saliva tests: the party wants the government to order these kinds of tests every day at all MIQ facilities.

Speaking in the House, Ardern said saliva tests were already underway in “high-risk areas,” such as the Jet Park Hotel.

But he said the saliva test is not as accurate as the standard nasal swab test and therefore could not be used on its own to detect Covid-19.

Meanwhile, Hipkins revealed that the government has made major changes to the MIQ facilities.

Air filtration systems in all elevators at the facility are being replaced, CCTV systems have been upgraded, and people’s movements have been further limited.

The changes were made following an investigation at the Pullman Hotel premises after multiple people in the community tested positive for Covid after staying there.

After being temporarily closed, the facility is reopened, albeit at 50 percent capacity, and only the lower floors will be occupied for the first two weeks.