New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern yesterday warned that the country is entering a new phase of its COVID-19 pandemic response that is “like nothing we’ve experienced to date,” as case numbers begin to explode.
“We are embarking for the first time in the two years since the start of the outbreak into a period where New Zealanders will see more COVID in the community,” Ardern said. “It is a period of disruption and, I know, of risk, and will be like nothing we’ve experienced to date.”
Ardern was speaking to reporters after a political reporter tested positive for the virus after taking a rapid antigen test moments before the news conference.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The empty seats in front of her — and the decision to forge on with the conference regardless — helped illustrate the new era for New Zealand, in which the government expects the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 to reach every part of the country.
New Zealand has been reporting near-daily record highs in case numbers, as infections begin to hit an exponential growth curve.
Officials yesterday announced 981 cases in the community, up from previous all-time highs of 810 on Sunday and 454 the day before.
The latest additions mean there are 4,960 active cases recorded across New Zealand, but experts say that the true number is likely much higher, given a lag in test results, and because testing is only advised for those with symptoms or who have been a direct contact with a case.
Ardern announced that the country would enter “phase 2” of its Omicron response — where home isolation times would be reduced, and it would rely more on contact tracing through apps and online questionnaires, rather than investigations of each case by health officials.
The latter is an admission that hands-on contact tracing is already reaching capacity. While the country has nearly 5,000 active cases from the past three weeks, the government has publicly listed only 135 locations of interest.
Yesterday’s announcement follows regulations last week that exempt key workers from isolating if exposed, as long as they return negative tests.
The next phase is designed to try to carry the country through a period with extremely widespread cases, without having crucial workforces or supply chains paralyzed by mass isolation.
New Zealand Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield and Ardern said that they are trying to avoid a “ping-mageddon” — a phenomenon similar to the “pingdemic” seen in the UK where so many people were simultaneously notified of being in contact with a person who had tested positive for COVID-19 that workforces ground to a halt and many people stopped using the apps.
Bloomfield said the country would no longer be requiring self-isolation for everyone who has been in COVID-19 location, nor would they necessarily be notified.
“Where we put the effort will focus on places like age groups, dental care, corrections, facilities, places where there might have been the risk of a super-spreader type event ... but we won’t be following up nor expecting people to isolate if they have, for example, been in a hospitality venue, just generally in that place” where another case was present.
Asked how New Zealanders are dealing with the rapid rise in cases — and the mindset shift required after years dedicated to stamping every COVID-19 case out, Ardern said: “My honest take is that New Zealanders are highly adaptable.”
“It’s a different phase, but I think New Zealanders are ready for it. I think they know that what we’re dealing with an Omicron — yes, we need to be vigilant, and we don’t want to be cavalier, but I think we also recognize it’s very different than the other stages of the pandemic and we have protections now that we didn’t have before,” she said.
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