The Ministry of Health is failing to inform people in a timely way on places where covid cases have been detected and where covid positive people have visited. Media keep publishing details well ahead of official information releases.
This happened with the initial covid outbreak that affected a family and two work places in Auckland, and also with places some affected family members visited in Rotorua and Taupo.
The MoH should at least be posting details online as soon as it is confirmed, and not be waiting until the next daily media conference.
This morning from NZ Herald: North Shore primary school student positive, Noel Leemings closed
The Covid risk has extended to Auckland’s North Shore after a primary school student tested positive, sending their school into lockdown.
Two Noel Leeming stores on the North Shore have also been told someone who tested positive had visited over the weekend.
A further two schools in Māngere East have confirmed cases of the virus, as does Auckland’s Manukau Institute of Technology.
It is unclear if the cases are linked to the 17 confirmed cases of community transmission or new ones.
We will have to wait until either a Minister or Ashley Bloomfield does a media interview, or until the 1 pm media conference, to find out officially whether these are additional cases or not.
A student at Glamorgan School in Torbay has tested positive, Auckland Regional Public Health said in a letter that has gone out to parents last night.
The child was last at school on Tuesday but has now gone into quarantine at home.
The child’s family are also self-isolating.
That sounds like it is an additional case. It is important to know if it is connected to the South Auckland cluster.
“There will be a great deal of concern in the school community, but the child did not have the symptoms while at school,” the letter said.
“This means there is a lower risk of the illness having been passed to other students.”
There’s a great deal of concern around the country. Not having symptoms does not mean they weren’t Covid positive and potentially spreading the virus.
Meanwhile, Warehouse Group staff have been told someone who tested positive had visited two Noel Leeming stores on the weekend.
Auckland’s Albany and Wairau Park click and collect sites were closed on Thursday and staff were asked to stay home at the request of management.
One person with Covid or connected to Covid cases can have a major impact on businesses and on many staff and customers.
Auckland public health officials said Southern Cross Campus and Taeaofou I Puaseisei Preschool in Mangere East have been closed after cases were confirmed there.
So that’s the third school/preschool with cases.
The MIT student, who was studying in TechPark’s general engineering area based at South Campus, Ōtara, was not on campus while they were infectious, students were told.
The student is in self-isolation and will not be attending classes until they have recovered from the virus.
Meanwhile MIT campus remains closed under level 3 restrictions.
This is sounding omninous, the spread of Covid seems to be widespread around Auckland.
Director general of Health Ashley Bloomfield said 17 of the total 36 active cases in New Zealand were linked to the new outbreak.
“Given that all these cases are linked, we are treating them as a cluster.”
The new cases include other children. One is a girl aged 1 to 4 while the other is a boy between the ages of 5 and 9. Another girl who tested positive is aged between 10 and 14, while a teenage male (age from 15-19) is among the new cases.
That was from yesterday. We shouldn’t have to wait until 1 pm today to get more details.
These locations involved with cases must have been known by the MoH yesterday, but they haven’t posted any details on their website or via Twitter since the 1 pm media conference yesterday. This laxity in keeping the public informed must be rectified.
The one positive from this news is that as far as we know the Covid outbreak is contained within the Auckland area.
Cabinet will meet today and announce a decision on Covid alert levels at 5:30 pm this afternoon. That doesn’t give us much time to know what we can do in the weekend. Like many people I have plans on hold pending the decision.
It looks like Auckland at least will remain on level 3 for longer, probably weeks.
The rest of us are left hoping that Covid hasn’t spread more widely, and that the rest of the country (or at least the South Island) is reprieved from more serious lockdowns.
John J Harrison
/ 14th August 2020Pete, like all socialists Ardern always seeks to control not only the message but also the populous.
She has stated on innumerable occasions that this is a COVID election.
Now it is coming back in a very big way to bite her on the backside.
In her proclamation in March when announcing that the country would be locked down to Level 4 , she stated unequivocally that if we did not “ up to 88,000 could die.”
That information was provided by a physicist, Shaun Hendy.
She terrified the punters which was clearly her intent.
Now we belatedly find out that Ardern and Bloomfield have lied on multiple occasions regarding the availability of flu jabs and PPE.
Our GP’s were right all along but they were attacked constantly for telling the truth.
Apart from a few die-hard socialists there are few who now give any credence to what Ardern and Bloomfield say.
You are quiet correct in pointing out the withholding of vital information from the populous by these two.
They love the control they currently have and will fight to keep it, no matter the cost.
Kitty Catkin
/ 14th August 2020I was abused and called a liar for quoting the 80,000 deaths figure and other alarmist ones, (I had, it was said, made these up despite their being on the news and in print) as I was abused and called a liar for quoting the PM’s own words to the Spinoff in an interview that she went by instinct and not science and evidence in the original savage lockdown.
John J Harrison
/ 14th August 2020Kitty, have you not learned to ignore infantile comments from Labour luvvies yet ?
Kitty Catkin
/ 14th August 2020There are times when Blazer and Duker’s personal abuse and false accusations of being a liar become too much to ignore.
Blazer has also called me a thief and a shoplifter (I once said in a conversation about birds that I had found a packet of eclairs that someone had left behind outside Pak & Save and kept them for the bird table* as it was obvious that the buyer wasn’t going to come back for them. To the virtuous Blazer, this is shoplifting and he has made many spiteful references to my being a shoplifter as well as baselessly saying that I steal other things) which is defamatory.
You will have seen from his puerile and spiteful killing of the Pitt the Younger joke that he is a Spoiler of the Fun, First Class.
*they were well received by the clients
Blazer
/ 14th August 2020[Deleted unsupportable accusation.]
Kitty Catkin
/ 14th August 2020I rest my case.
Fight4nz
/ 14th August 2020“ like all socialists Ardern always seeks to control not only the message but also the populous.”
You really have no shame do you. Appearing as soon as the election loomed, always first to comment on every post with lengthy, baseless anti government vitriol.
A blatant right wing stooge doing your utmost to control the message.
John J Harrison
/ 15th August 2020Fight4nz, I am not a medical doctor but would strongly recommend a very strong cup of tea and a lie down for a couple of hour.
Blazer
/ 15th August 2020‘Mullers Remedy’.
Corky
/ 15th August 2020Dilmah double strength. That cuppa will shake the socks off any socialist… once they have put their hands in our pockets so they can afford it.
MacSlernz
/ 14th August 2020Where is the Minister of Health?
John J Harrison
/ 14th August 2020Hiding.
Wouldn’t you as Minister of Health when your Director General and your Prime Minister cannot be relied on to tell the truth.
Both of their reputations are in the toilet.
Hipkins clearly wishes to distance himself from these two disasters.
Kitty Catkin
/ 14th August 2020What Minister of Health ?
Kitty Catkin
/ 14th August 2020Silly me, I forgot to allow for the literalminded taking this seriously.
Duker
/ 14th August 2020“Where is the Minister of Health?”
I thought Collins didnt want politicians fronting the daily Covid announcements .. but now you do ?
Pete George
/ 14th August 2020https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/423510/live-covid-19-updates-for-friday-14-august
Bugger.
Pete George
/ 14th August 2020RNZ:
Kitty Catkin
/ 14th August 2020Bugger and bum.
Duker
/ 14th August 2020“These locations involved with cases must have been known by the MoH yesterday, but they haven’t posted any details on their website or via Twitter since the 1 pm media conference yesterday. This laxity in keeping the public informed must be rectified.”
This is probably why ….
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300082520/coronavirus-pakuranga-college-principal-furious-after-incorrect-report-of-case
the MOH website gives the background to its results and its various agencies involved ARPHS does the testing , ESR processes the tests..the contact details are another group
https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-current-situation/covid-19-current-cases
As at 9.00 am, 14 August 2020
Source: This is provisional information taken daily at 9 am from a live database, EpiSurv (ESR) and is likely to change as more details are provided about individual cases.
I think the 4 hrs between the database extract at 9am and the long established 1 PM announcement is reasonable. Every other country does the daily update routine that I know of.
Corky
/ 15th August 2020Like Pete, I have plans on hold .Because of a lack of clear communication from our government, and a tiredness of trying to double guess what we are being told, I’m cancelling an event that will affect 120 people. Thanks gummint.!!!