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This story was originally published on RNZ.co.nz and is republished with permission.
Police Minister Stuart Nash discusses the details of what the Covid-19 level 3 alert will look like when New Zealand comes out of the level 4 alert blockade.
“There are around 500,000 kiwis working right now, this will take around one million,” Police Minister Stuart Nash told Checkpoint.
“We have also moved … from a business that is essential to be safe.”
READ MORE:
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What is the status of the ‘bubble’ at alert level 3?
“What we’re basically saying is that we still want to keep contact as minimal as possible. So you can invite family members or caregivers, and that’s it.
“If people think they are going to go back to pre-Covid levels where they will have beers with their peers, they are not. That is a long way off.”
KEVIN STENT / STUFF
Police Minister Stuart Nash is shedding light on what NZ will look like once the tight shutdown is lifted.
What about big families? Can they be part of a bigger bubble?
“Depending on where they live and how old they are,” Nash said. “But no, I would say they are your parents. For me, they are my two oldest children whom I have not seen apart from the fence or on FaceTime.
“The kiwis have done really well to keep Covid where he is, right now. The game is elimination. And we’re still chasing that incredibly hard, so we ask people to use their sense. common”.
“Let’s not undo all the really hard work we’ve done by being silly and violating this.”
If you are introducing new people to your bubble, what can you do? A hug, a handshake, a kiss?
“If it’s your mother, you can probably give her a hug, if she’s your son, your daughter, you can probably also give her a hug, but again we want to reduce human contact as much as we can.”
“My mother has been isolated and locked up like everyone else. I have not been close to her, I have been calling and keeping in touch, but for many older people human contact is really important.”
How will schools work with virtually some students at school and others online?
“Teachers will have to find the best way to make it work.”
“They will try to participate in social distancing in the classroom, so they will not have classes with 30 children sitting next to each other.”
The number of students in each classroom will depend on the school and the classroom to determine, Nash said.
“If you cannot keep your children at home, because you have to go out and work, then we are saying to send your child to school. But if you can work from home, we ask you to work from” and if you can support your children homeschooled until we get over it, so that’s what we ask people to do. “
Are schools essentially used as nurseries?
“No, not at all because we are what we hope at the moment is that children will continue to learn when they are at home, and they will certainly learn when they are in school. The last thing we need is for young men and women and children to miss education. It is the reason Chris Hipkins has introduced all of these measures around education. It is not a child care service. It is not a holiday for children. We hope you are learning.
“We are going back to a situation that is a little bit more normal than the level 4 course, but it doesn’t come close to the pre-Covid level.”
Will garden centers be allowed to open below alert level 3?
Nash said that if clicked and picked up, or if contactless options are available, they can be opened.
“We will not go back to a stage where people stop in the garden center parking lot, roam the hallways, pick up their plants and pay, that kind of system, we are a long way from that.”
“Please don’t be under the impression that we will return to pre-Covid forms.”
Hagen Hopkins / Getty Images
The government established strict measures to limit deaths from Covid-19.
Can people move house during level three?
“If you can.”
Below level three, will pregnant women be able to take a support person with them to the hospital or to birth care when they deliver their baby?
“A very good friend of mine, his wife, gave birth to their baby at 2:42 in the morning this morning, congratulations to Rob! He was there for the delivery, but had to leave soon after. But I can’t argue if the husband, partner can stay as long as they did before Covid. “
Can you go to your bach if you live in the same region?
“No, I have a bach in Mahia that is within my constituency and within the Hawke’s Bay region. No, you are not allowed to go to your bach, stay home, stay within your slightly enlarged bubble … But let’s not undo all the really great work we’ve done so far.
“There will be plenty of time to go to your bach after this, but in the meantime let’s be safe.”
If mountain biking and hiking are OK at Alert Level 3, why can’t we hunt?
“What we have said that you can do is that you can surf, you can fish whenever you fish from the shore, not in a boat. I suppose if you go hunting, you have to jump in a car and drive.
“We want to limit the trip to only essential trips. So you go to and from work, you go to the hospital if necessary, you go to and from the supermarket, but [as for] non-essential travel, again we want to limit [that]”
How far is it good to drive to the beach?
“We want people to use their common sense, and we’re heading into the winter … I wouldn’t expect you to get in a car and drive for half an hour to get to the beach. I think that would be essential and therefore unnecessary travel, therefore, outside the rules.
“My feeling is sticking to level 4 restrictions right now. If you can’t walk to the beach, then don’t go to the beach. We want to limit non-essential travel.”
“There will be a lot more cars on the road as people head to work, drop kids off at school, or go and pick up things they bought through click-and-pick.”
“What we want to do is make sure that people don’t have contact with those they don’t need.”
If you got stuck somewhere else during the confinement in a city where you don’t normally live and would like to go back to your real home, can you go to level 3?
Nash said he didn’t have an absolute answer to that, but he can’t see why not.
It is not yet known whether Cook Strait ferries will be available, for example.
“Let’s stick to the basic principle … Always limit the number of people you are in contact with, and only then can we remove Covid from our country.”
As Minister of Police, Nash acknowledged that the police are not observing the rules of physical detachment.
“It is very difficult … almost impossible, but … these are essential workers, and the police hierarchy has established a list of requirements to keep their workers safe. But we have men and women who are still dealing with backpacks in the worst possible circumstances, so I take my hat off to them. “
This story was originally published on RNZ.co.nz and is republished with permission.
