Watch: COVID-19 National Response Media Update, 7th May

The All of Government COVID-19 National Response will provide an update at 1.00 pm today.

Speakers:

• Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
• Director-General of Health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield

Live Updates:

• Dr Ashley Bloomfield has announced one new confirmed case.
• He says the person – who tested positive – was a household contact of a previously concerned case from the Matamata cluster.
• This brings total cases to 1489, with 1332 people recovered – 89 percent of cases.
• There are no further deaths to report.
• Dr Bloomfield says the ministry is working with the Aged Care Association and has developed a new questionnaire about testing and other screening processes for people going into aged care.
• He says the initial review of exemptions has been completed, and found that all decisions had been made correctly in terms of process and findings, but if they were made again under the updated process and findings from the recent High Court case some would be allowed.
• He says there is a person who has left isolation to visit a dying relative.
• Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says we can be proud of what we have achieved. “Now we find ourselves in a unique position again, on Monday Cabinet will consider the next stage of our response … we need every number from every single day to get the full set of data and we need of course the view of the Director-General of Health.”
• “It is very unlikely that we have hunted down every single case of Covid-19 if stray cases start new chains of transmission we might not find them for a month so we all need to stay on guard … level 2 has been designed to get as many people back to work as possible and get the economy back up and running but in the safest way possible.”
• She says public health measures will remain unchanged and asks New Zealanders who get symptoms to stay home, and wash hands properly, and not pass other people their phone.
• “For retail that means physical distancing for all staff and customers … larger retailers and malls will follow the lead of our supermarkets … for hairdressers and beauticians it means wearing appropriate PPE.”
• She says only hospitality businesses that can apply the ‘three s’ will be able to open. Seating: This includes seating – people must be seated to prevent the spread.Separation: There must be social distancing between people and tablesSingle server: Each table must have just one person serving it.
• Hospitality operators will also be required to keep distancing at queues outside and will be shut down if they cannot do so, Ardern says.
• At level 2 indoor gatherings are limited to a maximum of 100, and outdoor gatherings – which were previously going to be limited to 500 – are now also going to be limited to a maximum of just 100.
• Public venues like museums and markets can open again but with the same public hygiene limitations.
• People will no longer need to stick to bubbles at level 2 – you can visit friends and family – but Ardern says people are advised to keep gatherings small wherever possible.
• She says inter-regional travel will be allowed.
  “A trip from Wellington to Napier to see your mum is fine, a trip from Wellington to Napier to go to a big conference with an open bar is not fine.”
• Recreation and sport: water activity can resume, while some community sports will be able to return to play sooner than others as they work through the public health requirements. There will be no stadium crowds due to mass gathering restrictions but “sport will be played”.
• In education, early learning, schools and tertiary education can reopen at level 2, but again with hygiene measures. Capability to support distance learning will be maintained.When the decision is made to reopen schools, they won’t reopen midweek.
• She reminds New Zealanders that no decision on moving to level 2 has been made yet.
• She says she’s not worried about people relaxing compliance because we have moved down levels before. “We’re eager to move too but we want to do it safely.”
• She says she does not want to pre-empt the decision to move to level 2 but the government is keen to do so sooner rather than later, which means that when the decision is made it may be done in a “phased” approach.
• Dr Bloomfield says that for beauticians and hairdressers, the ministry wants to make sure there is a supply of masks and they are being worn properly. He says masks may include things like cloth masks, homemade masks or face coverings but the evidence shows the benefits these provide are less than for surgical masks.Ardern says the government will be providing further advice to beauticians and hairdressers about PPE.
• On gatherings, Ardern says large gatherings are still a ‘no-no’. Dr Bloomfield says he is looking forward to giving some of his close family a warm hug but strangers and others should be still greeted at a distance where possible.
• Ardern says the advice for those at higher risk is to think about their own personal safety when out and about. Bloomfield says others should also continue to exercise public health measures to keep vulnerable people safe.
• Ardern says the expectation is limiting contact with strangers.
• This also applies to businesses, which is how the measures for hospitality venues was arrived at. Nightclubs and dance venues will be unable to open.
  “For some it won’t be workable but keep in mind the intent is not to remain at level 2 forever, the goal is to keep moving through [the levels].”
• Ardern says hopsitality businesses will not be required to use contactless payments.She says the measures of only having one server will help reduce the risk of spread, and ‘high-contact surfaces’ like eftpos terminals and door handles will need to be cleaned more regularly.
• Dr Bloomfield says availability of handgel and cleaning will be very important to maintaining hygiene at these places.
• He says more than 500 people have now been tested from the Marist School group.
• He says evidence relating to the virus continues to emerge, but we’ve got a better understanding of how the virus transmits. “The key thing here is we are increasingly in a position to be able to go into alert level 2, because of the low numbers of cases we have through our efforts from the lockdown.”
• Ardern says the entire world is going to be in a difficult economic position but because of our stance of going hard and going early it will give New Zealand an advantage.
• Ardern says the idea behind moving to level 2 is that the evidence shows it is safe to do so. She says the reasoning behind the community-led checkpoints is to keep people safe. She did not say specifically whether the government would allow leniency around them.

https://youtu.be/iT6XDw55Rtg