Covirus 19 coronavirus: Ashley Bloomfield and other health experts will face questions from lawmakers

Health authorities will not know whether it is safe to go to Alert Level 2 until later this week, says Ashley Bloomfield.

The Director General of Health appeared before the Epidemic Response Committee today, where he was pressured by his comments that Covid-19 had been removed.

He clarified that, eliminated, meant that level 4 had achieved what it needed and that the elimination “was not a point in time.”

When it comes to contact tracing, Bloomfield said the new data shows that more than 70 percent of the tests were adjusted within 24 hours.

He added that 80 percent of confirmed cases had their contacts tracked within 48 hours.

When asked why New Zealand is still on Alert Level 3, Bloomfield said it was a cabinet decision.

Pressed by committee chairman Simon Bridges on this, Bloomfield told the national leader that it will not be until later this week before officials can determine whether it is safe to move to level 2.

He said the virus has an incubation period of two weeks, so two weeks at level 3 were suitable.

“We are watching very carefully what other countries are doing,” he said.

Those are the countries that have handled the virus well and those that have not.

Bloomfield added that a careful period of easing the blockade is what many other successful countries have done.

Bridges challenged him for the fact that all government communications equipment has been triggered during the pandemic.

But Bloomfield said it was important for the government to provide the best communications to the public during this time.

Bridges lashed out at Bloomfield, saying he wanted to “control the flow of information.”

This is because the Ministry of Health was not responding to written questions from the Epidemic Committee.

Bloomfield said that it rejected the accusation that it was trying to control the flow of information, but said it would strive to get the committee the information it needed.

Bloomfield said he had confronted the media most of the days since the pandemic hit.

Bloomfield reiterated that the economic impact of exiting the closure too soon would be far worse than a few more days of closure.

“The choice is pretty tough.”

He said that the government considered the impacts of deferred surgeries.

He added that 80 percent of urgent cancer surgery was still performed during level 4.

Entering level 2 also depends on where the cases come from.

It will be a red flag if cases that are not linked to existing clusters start to appear.

Tragedy of the rules of funeral confinement

The last memory that the anguished parents of an 18-year-old boy who died during the confinement of his son was his body being removed from his home.

The tragedy of death, an alleged suicide, was just one of the cases dealt with by Funeral of New Zealand Executive Director David Moger when he appeared during the committee this morning.

Moger said the last memory parents had of their son was that they took him outside the home and did not properly send him to a funeral.

Moger said more than 2,000 people died during the shutdown.

And due to tier 4 and 3 restrictions, the families of those 2,000 people have been unable to properly mourn.

He asked the government to organize a minute of national silence to recognize those who have died in the confinement.

“We know that families need a meaningful farewell as part of that grieving process.”
National leader Simon Bridges agreed and said he would support Moger’s calls for the national minute of silence.

“Inhuman” rules around births during confinement

The committee also listened to Rebekah, who did not want to give her last name.

She said that she was one of the thousands of women who gave birth during the confinement, a girl named Trinity.

Rebekah, based in Wellington, said the guidance was confusing and lobbying with the government was ignored.

She said the information was difficult to obtain and that the delivery rules were different in different hospitals.

Rebekah, who was excited during her appearance, said it was a human right to have a support person during labor.

Her support person withdrew from her birth plan at 38 weeks.

“I didn’t want to get pregnant anymore,” she said.

Another midwife also stopped supporting her after that, saying she was “terrified.”

“I felt like an animal,” he said.

She said her partner was unable to stay long after her birth, which was done in the hospital.

“I don’t support draconian reasons why my partner can’t be there,” he said.

“The requirement to be alone was inhumane.”

Rebekah said that after delivery, she lost a lot of postnatal support.

This made her feel that “she had no value as a mother.”

She said her childbirth experiences have left her “powerless.”

National Representative Louise Upston and co-leader Green Marama Davidson praised Rebekah for sharing her story with the committee.

Rebekah said she spoke because “I really wanted to make a difference.”

“I really hope something changes.”

Bjorn Reymer told the story of his wife’s pregnancy at alert level 3.
His wife was told that he needed an examination in the hospital, but he was not allowed to be with her during the ultrasound.

Reymer said she had to wait in the hospital parking lot while she had the scanner.

Inside, his wife was told that her baby had no heartbeat and that she had to deal with the trauma herself.

“They gave her a box of tissues and they left her alone.”

This was the couple’s second miscarriage.

Reymer said he did not understand why he could be with his wife during such a traumatic time and was not aware of some of the rules around compassionate visits.

He said medical personnel did not use PPE since they did not consider his wife a Covid-19 risk.

Since he was in his bubble, Reymer doesn’t understand why he couldn’t be in the room with her.

He did not blame the hospital staff, but criticized how confusing the system was.
He said he had heard from others who were in similar circumstances and who had different experiences.

“The process could have been more transparent.”

“You should have allowed me to enter level 3.”

But he said the follow-up from Auckland Hospital and the midwife was good and helped them deal with the trauma.

The committee is focusing today on Covid-19’s health impacts, and will hear from experts in various parts of the health sector.

The health system ‘must catch up’

Cancer Society medical director Chris Jackson previously told the committee that the level 4 block has resulted in a 30 percent reduction in cancer diagnosis.

“The health system must now catch up … or lives will be lost.”

But Jackson said that if the post-closure health response is successful, the diagnoses can “catch up” and there would be far fewer deaths.

He said a three-month delay in the evaluation would result in the loss of 400 lives.
“We owe it to them to make sure we make those diagnoses.”

He said that more funds were needed for the health sector to prevent this from happening.
“If we don’t do … these scans, lives will be lost.”

Jackson said an option would be to run a “super clinic” whereby many people are screened at once.

But he cautioned against that, since many cancer diagnoses were quite complex.

Without more additional capacity and more funding, Jackson said DHBs would have to prioritize different types of cancer screening tests.

That’s not ideal, he said, since it would mean that some people would miss it.

He also called on the private sector to step up after the shutdown to help with the influx of cancer screenings.

But overall, Jackson said the blockade has kept people with cancer safe.

However, he said there have been some problems, such as some people at the hospital being unable to have support people present.

Pharmac has abandoned plans to fund a lung cancer drug due to global supply problems, Jackson said.

This was a concern.

This occurs when New Zealand has had two days without new Covid-19 cases in a row.

Although Bloomfield said there were reasons to celebrate, he was also warning people to remain vigilant.

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“Having zero new Covid-19 cases to report for the second consecutive day is very encouraging and all New Zealanders should be satisfied with their efforts,” Bloomfield said yesterday.

“[But] We need to stay the course and not waste what we have accomplished. “

Bloomfield is expected to be questioned about the likelihood of exiting alert level 3 early.

National leader Simon Bridges, who is also chairman of the Epidemic Response Committee, has been pressing the government to advance to level 2 as soon as possible.

“I am certainly impatient for [Level 2]”he said earlier this week.

The Cancer Society, New Zealand Funeral Directors and Hospice New Zealand will also appear before the committee this morning.

“Even with the resumption of Parliament last week, the Epidemic Response Committee still has an important role to play,” said Bridges.

“With a week until the Cabinet decides whether New Zealand can come out of the restrictive blockade measures, it is crucial that we have an opportunity to ask questions and highlight relevant issues.”

Order to appear at the Epidemic Response Committee
• Cancer Society, Dr. Chris Jackson, (10am – 10.20am)
• New Zealand Funeral Directors, David Moger, (10.20am – 10.40am)
• New Zealand Hospice, Mary Shumacher, (10.40am – 11am)
• Rebekah (last name hidden) (11am – 11.15am)
• Jennifer (last name hidden) (11.15am – 11.30am)
• Dr. Ashley Bloomfield (11.30am – 12pm)

WHERE TO GET HELP:

If you are concerned about your or someone else’s mental health, the best place to get help is your GP or local mental health provider. However, if you or someone else is in danger or is endangering others, call the police immediately at 111.

OR IF YOU NEED TO TALK TO SOMEONE ELSE:

• 0800 543 354 (0800 LIFELINE) or free text 4357 (HELP) (available 24/7)
• https://www.lifeline.org.nz/services/suicide-crisis-helpline
• YOUTH LINE: 0800 376 633
• I NEED TO TALK? Free call or text message 1737 (available 24/7)
• KIDSLINE: 0800 543 754 (available 24/7)
• WHATSUP: 0800 942 8787 (1pm to 11pm)
• DEPRESSION HELP LINE: 0800 111 757 or TEXT 4202

• Covid19.govt.nz – The official government Covid-19 advisory website