Covid 19 coronavirus: stop using hotels for quarantine, urges public health expert

One of the country’s leading public health scholars believes the government should stop using hotels to quarantine people who test positive for the virus.

University of Otago professor of public health Nick Wilson says that if officials are serious about reducing another major outbreak, specially designed facilities should be used.

“[The Government] You should also seriously study the pros and cons of specially designed quarantine facilities at places like Ōhakea airbase, “he told the Science Media Center.

“A cost-benefit analysis that took into account the huge economic cost of the recent Auckland outbreak could tip the balance towards a high-quality approach to quarantine facilities.”

It comes as Public Health Director Dr. Caroline McElnay confirmed that there are 12 new cases of Covid-19 today, all in isolation.

Ten of the cases arrived on a flight from India on September 26, flight AI1354, spread over rows 14 and 41.

The theory is that the travelers were infected before boarding the flight. Genomic testing has yet to be completed, but the results could suggest whether the virus was transmitted mid-flight.

Of the two remaining cases, one arrived on a flight from the United States on September 26 and tested positive on the third day of his stay.

The twelfth case arrived from the Philippines via Taiwan on September 23. They were analyzed because they were a contact from another case and yesterday they tested positive.

On August 23, 17 people on a flight from India tested positive for Covid-19 while in quarantine for the next several weeks.

The large number of cases arriving in New Zealand put an additional burden and risk on the quarantine system, Wilson said.

“It should promote serious work by health authorities to further reduce risks.

“This could be by requiring pre-test screening (for example, a negative PCR test for pandemic virus within 48 hours before departure) in countries with a high spread of the pandemic and where cases exceed a particular threshold. of new cases per million inhabitants per day.

“This threshold should be set at a level that covers those traveling on flights from countries with poorly controlled pandemic spread, such as the United Kingdom, the United States and India.”

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says pre-departure tests would not automatically strengthen New Zealand’s border protection.

Ultimately, everyone entering the country from abroad must self-quarantine and undergo tests twice once they arrive, he said.

“Where you are in the world depends on whether you have the ability to take those pre-departure tests or not.”

In India specifically, one of the problems has been the ability to conduct tests at the border before departure.

“We would literally have to have health people on the ground to do that.”

Ardern also raised the issue that people could have the virus but return a negative test.

“[Pre-departure testing] it is an additional element, but not necessarily something that we can deploy at each border at this stage, “he said.

However, Wilson said a negative test before flying would reduce the burden on the quarantine system here and also reduce the risk of the outbreaks spreading on airplanes.

“This system should be carefully evaluated and, if successful, could be implemented on flights from all countries where Covid-19 circulates, even at low levels.”