Hospitals are setting up tents and clearing wards to prepare for an expected influx of Covid-19 patients.
Some hospitals have opted to use tents to triage people who might have the new coronavirus, the Herald on Sunday understands - keeping potential carriers well away from other staff and patients.
New Zealanders will be used to seeing such measures used after disasters overseas, and their use here underlines the health emergency the country and world faces.
GP clinics are giving flu jabs in carparks, and photos emerged last week of hundreds of campervans lined up at sites in Auckland and Christchurch, ready for returning travellers to use for self-isolation.
Large numbers of elective (non-urgent) surgeries and procedures are also being postponed or sent to private hospitals to free up space and resources.
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