Coronavirus: Jacinda Ardern ask Kiwis to put pen to paper
New Zealanders have been asked to keep an old fashioned diary of their movements and everyone they meet as politicians.
New Zealanders have been asked to keep an old fashioned diary of their movements and everyone they meet as politicians and health officials decide whether to relax one of the world’s toughest responses to COVID-19.
Relaxing level four restrictions to level three would allow some people to return to work but still keep shops and restaurants shut unless they could trade without making human contact.
Schools would partially open up to Year 10 and funerals and weddings could go ahead but without food.
It is possible the tougher level four restrictions will be kept in place despite warnings from New Zealand Treasury last week that an extended lockdown could cut GDP by 35 per cent and push unemployment to 25 per cent by the end of the year.
New Zealand First leader and Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has downplayed reports of a split in cabinet over the economic impact of the lockdown. He said his party was not opposed to extending the lockdown if required.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said a decision ultimately would depend on achieving a “gold standard” in contact tracing.
Like Australia, New Zealand is considering a mobile app to trace contacts but Ms Ardern says the technology alone is not good enough. A gold standard for contact tracing is considered the ability to contact 80 per cent of people who have been near a person infected with COVID-19 within three days.
New Zealander’s are being asked to keep a diary of where they have been and who they have been in contact with.
Ms Ardern said people could not be expected to remember everyone they had met six days ago if asked.
New Zealand recorded nine new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, all linked to other confirmed cases. The nation had recorded 1431 cases, with 912 having recovered. Twelve people have died. Eighteen people were still in hospital, and three are in intensive care.
Ms Ardern said a decision on relaxing restrictions would be announced at 4pm on Monday.
“More of the economy will come back on line but our social lives will not,” the Prime Minister said on the possibility of level three restrictions.
“Government wants to know that health officials are satisfied they have sufficient data on cases, that the ability to identify people who have been in contact with the virus is robust and that measures for self isolation and quarantine are being adhered to.”
Ms Ardern said she did not underestimate the economic impact of the lockdown.
Martin Berka, the head of the School of Economics and Finance at Massey University, said level four restrictions were no longer optimal policy for New Zealand because it ignores the livelihoods of almost the entire New Zealand population.
“Nobody is suggesting to open up the economy completely, but I argue that level three restrictions are strict enough to protect lives, while also helping people recover their livelihoods”, Professor Berka said.
He said New Zealand’s level three rules were more stringent than Singapore, Hong Kong or South Korea, and could still cause an unprecedented recession.
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