Universal Dependencies - English - GUM

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I wish to make a ministerial statement about the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in New Zealand.

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On Friday, 28 February, New Zealand recorded its first case of the COVID-19 coronavirus, becoming the 48th country to have a confirmed case.

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The individual had entered the country two days earlier after spending some weeks in Iran, which is currently experiencing a sizable outbreak of the disease.

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I can report to the House that they are currently in a stable and improving condition at Auckland Hospital.

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The good news in this instance is that the individual had limited contact with people upon their return to the country, and their family took all the appropriate measures when presenting at the emergency department.

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As you would expect, our public health service is working hard to contain this first case and limit the risk of any spread of the disease.

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Contact tracing began immediately and has gone to plan.

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All 15 people who were seated nearby the individual on their flight into New Zealand have been traced and are being told to self-isolate.

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Public health staff will remain in touch with individuals to monitor the situation and give ongoing advice.

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All but 10 of the remaining passengers on the flight, who are not considered to be close contacts, have also been contacted to provide reassurance and answer any questions they might have; those 10 that haven't been contacted did not provide accurate contact information.

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I'm advised that as a result of our decisive response, the chance of an outbreak from our first case is low.

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Internationally, the situation with COVID-19 continues to develop at pace.

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However, the Director-General of the World Health Organization said, this morning, containment … is feasible and must remain the top priority for all countries.

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This is exactly the approach that New Zealand is taking, using three main tools: border controls; self-isolation; and good public health practices, including highlighting the importance of basic hygiene.

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At every step, the Government has taken decisions in the interests of health and safety of the wider public, and so far we have been among the best at keeping COVID-19 at bay.

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Just yesterday, Cabinet decided to extend for another week the travel restrictions that have been in place for China since 3 February and for Iran since last Friday.

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These restrictions have played a key role in keeping COVID-19 out of New Zealand for so long and have given us time to better understand the disease and ramp up our preparations.

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Of course, members will be aware that there are outbreaks in other regions as well.

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So, as a further precaution, we have decided that anyone arriving in New Zealand who has been in northern Italy or South Korea who has been there in the last 14 days will be registered for self-isolation.

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This is based on an expert assessment of risk.

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It recognises that while there are outbreaks in both countries, they also have well-developed health systems and the outbreaks are largely located in specific regions.

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We know self-isolation works.

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It is a longstanding and successful approach to managing infectious diseases and has proven its worth again in recent weeks.

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We have also stepped up the health presence at our airports.

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All airlines flying into New Zealand have been requested to read a health message upon landing, and all arrivals into New Zealand will receive health information cards alongside the standard customs declaration form.

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As a result of decisions taken on Friday, health staff are meeting all direct international flights landing in New Zealand airports from Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Thailand.

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Our border response is further ramping up to have health staff available for all international flights into New Zealand.

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All these decisions and actions are designed to limit the spread of any sporadic COVID-19 cases that might arrive in New Zealand.

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At the same time, our health system continues its preparations in line with our comprehensive pandemic plan.

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I want to thank our DHBs, public health staff, and primary care and health officials for the work they are doing to protect the public.

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I have high confidence in our medical professionals.

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We have a strong public health system.

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We continue to work to keep COVID-19 out, but we are ready if it arrives in our community.