Covid-19 cases in NZ passes 1039; PM calls out 'idiots' making light of pandemic

Author: Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date: Sun, 5 Apr 2020, 1:01PM

There are 89 new cases of coronavirus in New Zealand, Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield says.

The new cases are made up of 48 confirmed cases and 41 probable cases.

The combined total of confirmed and probable cases in New Zealand is 1039.

58 are confirmed, and 41 are probable cases.

There are no additional deaths, and 156 people have recovered.

There are 15 people in hospital, including three in ICU; one in Wellington and two in Auckland, with two reportedly in a critical condition.

The total number of lab tests so far is 36,209, 3093 of which were processed yesterday.

He said 45 per cent have a clear international travel link, 36 per cent were contacts of known cases, and 1 per cent were community transmission - 18 per cent are still being investigated.

The breakdown of cases by ethnicity is 74 per cent European, 8.3 Asian, 7.6 Maori and 3.3 per cent Pacific.

No decision made about expanding lockdown - PM

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she didn't want to draw "too many conclusions" but the number of cases had not grown exponential growth in other countries.

"That is a good thing."

An exponential growth in cases would be a clear sign that Covid-19 was not under control.

Ardern said she expected to be transparent around the lockdown exit criteria.

She said no decisions had been made about extending the lockdown.

"We're not at a point yet where we can see the full impacts of alert level 4," she said, adding that ongoing compliance made it more likely that the lockdown would not be extended.

She said new cases made it hard to see success, but the measures had made an impact.

Case numbers vs data modelling

She said the modelling provided by Rodney Jones, principal of Wigram Capital Advisors, had predicted about 4000 cases by this weekend at the start of the lockdown.

The fact that we were only now at about 1000 was a reason for optimism, Ardern said.

"We have made a good start and the decisions we've made to date have made a difference."

She also pointed to google data that showed "impressively high levels of compliance" by New Zealanders in lockdown.

Retail and recreation movements had fallen 91 per cent, while visits to essential services had dropped by 50 per cent, and going to parks had fallen by 80 per cent.

Closing borders 25 days after New Zealand's first case was much quicker than in other countries, she said, as was the announcement of the Government's first economic rescue package.

Witnessing the trajectories overseas had helped the Government to decide to "go hard and go early," Ardern said.

Chch man coughing on people an 'idiot' - PM

"Be proud of your efforts that you have all made. It is making a difference. Now is the time though to remain focused, to not let up," Ardern said.

The Prime Minister said efforts to go after those breaking the lockdown rules would ensure the success of the lockdown and move the country out of lockdown as soon as possible.

Over Friday and Saturday, Ardern said police had done 795 prevention patrols and 990 reassurance checks at essential services.

There are "still some people I would charitably describe as idiots", she said, citing the man in Christchurch who filmed himself coughing on people.

Ardern said a strategy putting the economy ahead of health was wrong, and the loss of life would also lead to economic pain. She said countries who stemmed the flu epidemic of 1918 did better economically in the long run.

She said there will be long term effects on the economy, despite the $5b already paid out on wage subsidies.

This week the Government would continue to focus on stopping the spread of the virus to move out of the lockdown as soon as possible, she said.

That included scaling up contact tracing and getting a better gauge on community transmission.

Ardern said she would also ask for the kind of evidence needed before a move out of lockdown can be ascertained.

Ardern on Health Minister David Clark's mountain biking

She said she was "very disappointed" in Health Minister David Clark for driving to go mountain biking, but she would not be drawn on whether she considered him an "idiot".

She said she still had confidence in him.

Clark understood her expectations, Ardern said.

She did not think he was refusing interviews, adding that Clark continued to be in lockdown in Dunedin. "He continues to do his job."

She said there was nothing to read into Clark not fronting on Q+A this morning, as many other Ministers were consistently available to answer questions.

Ardern said case numbers and the rate of transmission, community transmission, and contact-tracing capacity were signs that Covid-19 was under control.

She said the number of tests and the number of confirmed cases was a sign of community transmission, but she wanted to make sure there was enough regional testing, which the Ministry was looking at.

Bloomfield said the positivity rate had been dropping - currently just over 1 per cent - even though the number of tests had increased. The surveillance and sentinel testing would also be implemented, he said.

Ardern said level 4 was "as tight as it gets".

No one wanted to see curfews, for example, Ardern said.