The big question: How long will the current lockdown last?
Will the current lockdowns and elimination strategy work for the delta variant? Can we achieve complete elimination? Will the lockdown only be lifted when the new community case counter hits zero?
These are the few questions racing through most kiwi minds ever since discovering a solo case of the highly infectious delta variant that plunged the entire country in level 4 lockdown.
Today, Thursday, the 26th of August 2021, the community caseload has ballooned to 277, and has not given any comfor to those looking for an end to the lockdown.
With the country continuing in level 4 lockdown and current modelling indicating cases to exceed 1000, it does not appear that Auckland is coming out of lockdown in any hurry.
Aucklanders should plan for the lockdown to be around for a while, similar to Lockdown 1.0 in April last year unless the government alters its strategy of complete elimination.
Chris Hipkins told TNVZ's Q&A on last Sunday morning "We still want to try to drive Covid out as much as we can. That hasn't changed."
"The reality though is that a virus that can be infectious within 24 hours of someone getting it - that changes the game considerably."
"The scale of infectiousness and the speed of the virus has put our system under strain."
Hipkins said there was no option for the government to have more Pfizer vaccine supply by providing an incentive payment.
"Delta does raise some big questions that we're going to have to grapple with, you know less than a 24-hour period for someone getting it and passing it on to others … that's like nothing we've dealt with in this pandemic so far, and it does change everything," he said.
"It does mean that all of our existing protections … start to look less adequate and less robust. As a result of that, we are looking very closely at what more we can do there. At some point, we will have to start to be more open in the future."
Hipkins' comments were a departure from the government's usual messaging over its elimination strategy.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has hit out at New Zealand's COVID-19 response, saying following an elimination strategy with the Delta variant is absurd.
Morrison's criticism comes as Australia struggles to contain multiple outbreaks with many states in lockdown including, The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria.
In today's 1pm press conference, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has confirmed New Zealand's elimination strategy and thanked the team of five million for their continued cooperation and emphasized the importance of increasing vaccination within our communities.
The Prime Minister urged all over 30 years to get vaccinated and follow all the rules of lockdown and confirmed that any decision on lockdown levels will be taken on Monday.
It is widely expected that regions out of Auckland, especially the South Island might drop a level early next week, but no hope in sight for Auckland.
Let us know what are your thoughts on when this lockdown will end.
Your comments below will be welcome.
Will the current lockdowns and elimination strategy work for the delta variant? Can we achieve complete elimination? Will the lockdown only be lifted when the new community case counter hits zero?
These are the few questions racing through most kiwi minds ever since discovering a solo case of the...
Will the current lockdowns and elimination strategy work for the delta variant? Can we achieve complete elimination? Will the lockdown only be lifted when the new community case counter hits zero?
These are the few questions racing through most kiwi minds ever since discovering a solo case of the highly infectious delta variant that plunged the entire country in level 4 lockdown.
Today, Thursday, the 26th of August 2021, the community caseload has ballooned to 277, and has not given any comfor to those looking for an end to the lockdown.
With the country continuing in level 4 lockdown and current modelling indicating cases to exceed 1000, it does not appear that Auckland is coming out of lockdown in any hurry.
Aucklanders should plan for the lockdown to be around for a while, similar to Lockdown 1.0 in April last year unless the government alters its strategy of complete elimination.
Chris Hipkins told TNVZ's Q&A on last Sunday morning "We still want to try to drive Covid out as much as we can. That hasn't changed."
"The reality though is that a virus that can be infectious within 24 hours of someone getting it - that changes the game considerably."
"The scale of infectiousness and the speed of the virus has put our system under strain."
Hipkins said there was no option for the government to have more Pfizer vaccine supply by providing an incentive payment.
"Delta does raise some big questions that we're going to have to grapple with, you know less than a 24-hour period for someone getting it and passing it on to others … that's like nothing we've dealt with in this pandemic so far, and it does change everything," he said.
"It does mean that all of our existing protections … start to look less adequate and less robust. As a result of that, we are looking very closely at what more we can do there. At some point, we will have to start to be more open in the future."
Hipkins' comments were a departure from the government's usual messaging over its elimination strategy.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has hit out at New Zealand's COVID-19 response, saying following an elimination strategy with the Delta variant is absurd.
Morrison's criticism comes as Australia struggles to contain multiple outbreaks with many states in lockdown including, The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria.
In today's 1pm press conference, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has confirmed New Zealand's elimination strategy and thanked the team of five million for their continued cooperation and emphasized the importance of increasing vaccination within our communities.
The Prime Minister urged all over 30 years to get vaccinated and follow all the rules of lockdown and confirmed that any decision on lockdown levels will be taken on Monday.
It is widely expected that regions out of Auckland, especially the South Island might drop a level early next week, but no hope in sight for Auckland.
Let us know what are your thoughts on when this lockdown will end.
Your comments below will be welcome.
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