Lockdown extension spurs another debate in New Zealand

But ‘better safe than sorry’ relevant to Covid-19

Venkat Raman
Auckland, April 20, 2020

Soon after Prime Minister Jacinda Arden announced an extension of Alert Level 4 form Thursday, April 23, 2020 to Monday, April 27, 2020, public reaction began with diverse views- some saying that it was the right decision, while others said it was unnecessary.

New Zealand will move from COVID-19 Alert Level 4 to Alert Level 3 at 1159 pm on Monday, April 27, 2020. The country will stay in Alert Level 3 for two weeks before a further review and Alert Level decision on May 11, 2020,” she said.

Earlier today, the Cabinet discussed the recommendations of the Director General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield, and the need for assurance that community transmission is non-existent.

Ms Ardern said that the government took a balanced approach of transiting between Alert 4 and Alert 3 to restart the economy that has been standstill since March 25, 2020.

Thanking New Zealanders for their sacrifices during the lockdown period, she said that ‘going hard and going early to stamp out the virus has helped stop the uncontrolled explosion of Covid-19 in New Zealand.

“The sacrifices made to date have been huge. Cabinet wanted to make sure we lock in our gains, give ourselves some additional certainty, but take no more than two additional business days to do this before we restart our economy again. We want to see kiwis back in work as soon as possible and our economy rebound before others,” she said.

Bridges’ criticism

Opposition Leader Simon Bridges led the critics’ brigade, saying that the government has been caught short of proper testing procedure.

“New Zealand is being held back because the government has not used this time (four weeks of lockdown) to ensure best practice of testing and tracing the availability of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE),” he said.

Mr Bridges accused the government of inefficiency and inadequacy, and said, “Tracing is the biggest challenge and experts have identified major shortcomings in the methods being used by the government,” he said.

The Second Wave Scare

None of these criticisms will hold water during a health crisis, especially in dealing with a worldwide pandemic in which very little is known about the virus- how it catches on, how it spreads, how early or late the symptoms appear and the rate of its spread.

Countries that have either not taken adequate measures or have moved out of lockdown are experiencing the disastrous effects of their decision.

Singapore is a good example. The government announced ‘Circuit Breaker’ measures but not only kept many businesses and retail outlets open but also relaxed the lockdown measures. The country is now experiencing a second wave of the disease, with an average 600 new cases reported every day.

The situation is fast getting out of hand in Sweden (14385 reported cases and 1540 deaths to date) but the government is still reluctant to take appropriate measures.

Alert Level 3

Ms Ardern said that about 400,000 people will return to work once the country moves into Alert 3 and named construction, manufacturing and forestry as examples.

“But at Level 3, we need to be even more vigilant and we must stick to the rules, continue to reduce contact and keep breaking the chain of transmission. Schools and early learning centres can be accessed this week for cleaning, maintenance and any other preparations. The current plan is for schools to be able to re-open for a Teacher Only Day on 28 April as part of their preparation, and we expect those who need to attend, to be able to from 29 April. It may take a bit longer for some schools and early learning centres to be ready,” she said.

Public Services remain shut

Although many offices will open at Alert Level 3, almost all public services will remain shut.

Auckland Council has announced that all its public services such as libraries, swimming pools, recreation centres and venues for hire will remain shut.

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