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This story was originally published on RNZ.co.nz and republished with permission.
A spokesperson for the World Health Organization uses New Zealand as an example of a country whose response to Covid-19 has been effectively communicated to communities.
WHO’s special envoy for Covid-19, Dr. David Nabarro, recently told a British magazine that the organization now believes that lockdowns should only be used to buy time for authorities to set up systems that allow society to live with the virus.
Andy Jackson / Stuff
New Plymouth CBD during the level 4 lockdown. (File photo)
Dr. Margaret Harris, a spokeswoman for the World Health Organization says she was referring to countries blocking the entire country instead of using tracing, testing and contact distancing.
“He certainly wasn’t referring to New Zealand.”
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Harris says New Zealand is an example of a country that has worked well with a community to effectively communicate what it is doing.
“In New Zealand there was a lot of clarity about what was expected and why things were going to be done and that is extremely important, that people understand what is going to happen and why it is going to happen.”
She says New Zealand’s approach is different from countries that see large numbers of cases every day.
“Certainly New Zealand is in an advantageous position because it has been suppressing its virus from the beginning and really reducing its numbers.”
She says the second closure in Auckland was a specific restriction and sometimes a suburb or a sector of society is quarantined.
“Certainly, again, we like to see countries respond to what their transmission is doing and where it is happening, so we recommend that using the test, trace and isolate and quarantine approach, it be done in a very personalized way.”
Crashes are a drastic measure that is a last resort when streaming is broadcast through a community.
“We’re not saying you can’t do them, what we’re saying is it’s not the first.
“We see the confinements basically as a final resource; we do not say that they are bad, we do not say that they are good, but what we say is that a series of measures are applied, ideally, there is a strong monitoring, tracking and participation of the community .and that people take all the necessary measures, washing hands, physical distancing, the use of masks where appropriate and ensuring that they avoid close contact and surroundings “.
When countries have an outbreak and lock down a country for a period of time, the transmission rate drops, Harris said.
“It certainly works, it reduces transmission.”
But she says many countries are struggling to get out of a lockdown.
“That exit strategy is something that has been problematic for many countries.”
The WHO says countries should “do it all,” says Harris.
“Don’t go from the confinement to nowhere, that was really the point, don’t go from nowhere to the confinement, that was really the point that Dr. Nabarro was trying to make.”
