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Jude from Avondale

First suspected case of coronavirus in New Zealand, virus declared a global emergency by WHO

13:55, Jan 31 2020


WHO declares global health emergency

The World Health Organisation has declared the China coronavirus outbreak that has killed 170 people in China a global emergency.

A possible case of the new coronavirus has been found in Auckland, with test results expected on Saturday.

Ministry of Health Director-General Dr Ashley Bloomfield said on Friday afternoon that the person fitted the definition of a suspected case and was being managed appropriately. They were in isolation in Auckland Hospital, he said.

The World Health Organisation has declared that the coronavirus epidemic in China now constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. But New Zealand authorities say there are no plans to screen passengers arriving from coronavirus-affected countries.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the decision after a meeting of its emergency committee, an independent panel of experts, amid mounting evidence of the virus' spread to some 19 countries. 



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A declaration of a global emergency typically brings greater money and resources, but may also prompt nervous governments to restrict travel and trade to affected countries. 

Bloomfield updated media on Friday afternoon, following a meeting of the Government's top level security committee, which Stuff revealed was quietly convened earlier this week. The Officials Committee for Domestic and External Security Coordination - otherwise known as ODESC - manages national security and response during an emerging or security event.

The meeting, triggered by the WHO declaration, discussed the logistics for the planning to get Kiwis out of Wuhan and getting the clearance from China, he said.

VIRUS SPREAD THE MAIN CONCERN

WHO executives, from left, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organisation with Michael Ryan, Executive Director, WHO Health Emergencies Programme, and Maria van Kerkhove, Head of the Outbreak Investigation Task Force.

Air New Zealand has announced it will cut back on flights to Shanghai, in anticipation of a reduced desire to travel to China.

Normally seven weekly return flights travel from Auckland to Shanghai, this will be reduced to four weekly flights between February 18 and March 31. Those with tickets for cancelled flights will be contacted directly.

Some countries are curtailing flights to China, with American and Unite Airlines, British Airways German carrier Lufthansa, Israel's El Al, Scandinavian Airlines, Egypt Air, Turkish Airlines suspending flights, as did some in India

Do you know anyone impacted by the coronavirus epidemic? Let us know by emailing newstips@stuff.co.nz

The WHO's Ghebreyesus believes the declaration of an emergency, "is not a vote of non-confidence in China...on the contrary, WHO continues to have the confidence in China's capacity to control the outbreak.

"Our greatest concern is the potential for the virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems, and which are ill-prepared to deal with the outbreak

Prime minister Jacinda Ardern outlines measures underway to evacuate and help NZ citizens at risk of Coronavirus infection.

New Zealand's Ministry of Health Director-General Dr Ashley Bloomfield said on Friday: "The advice to all counties [from WHO] was to be prepared for containment, active surveillance, early detection and trace management, and prevention of onward spread. And to share full data with WHO.

"We have acted very much in line with the WHO advice and in accordance with our pandemic plan."

Bloomfield said that anyone who has travelled to Wuhan or to Hubei providence should self isolate for the next few days.

At this stage there are no plans to screen passengers coming into New Zealand from coronavirus-affected countries, he said.

New Zealand can also now test for the virus within hours. Bloomfield said the Crown research body ESR will run a batch of tests daily.

In New Zealand, five people have been tested for the coronavirus since Thursday afternoon. None tested positive for the virus.

Bloomfield added that Kiwis should be "no more concerned than they were yesterday. We are concerned but not alarmed".

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Health Minister David Clark and Ministry of Health Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield update media on coronavirus becoming an officially notified virus on Thursday.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says well over a hundred Kiwis have registered to get on an evacuation flight out of Wuhan.

New Zealand still had to wait on clearance for the flight to leave but good progress was being made with the Chinese authorities, logistics and managing the protocols of those returning, she said.

Some of the countries who had managed to extract their citizens had waited up to a week for clearance,

National Party health spokesman Michael Woodhouse.

She said MFAT was working on the cost of the 'nominal fee' passengers would have to pay. 

It would be very likely the flight would assist other nationalities, but priority would be given to New Zealand's Pacific neighbours, she said.

The emphasis of the WHO emergency declaration was for support to go to health systems that may not be able to cope, she said.

"We are working with the governments of the Pacific who may need to get their citizens out and to assist

Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said New Zealand was using its relationship with China to help get permission for the evacuation of Kiwis from Wuhan.

The virus originated in Wuhan, China with many people dead and thousands infected.

New Zealand is at stage two of its pandemic plan so did not need to take radical steps, according to National Party health spokesman Michael Woodhouse.

However, it was important that public health officials were ready to go if they needed to ramp up to the stage three of stamp out the virus, he said. That would only be activated when there was evidence of the virus in New Zealand.  

He believed the Ministry of Health should now increase its efforts to manage the risk at the border - something it should have done days ago, Woodhouse said.

The ministry should also be working with immigration officials to identify passengers arriving from affected countries, not just flights from China, he said.

He believed every arriving passenger, in that risk category, should be provided with information

NO VACCINE IMMINENT

The WHO declaration sets in motion a plan for global coordination to stem the spread of the virus, which originated last month in central China and moved to several countries.

Experts say a vaccine for the virus is still a long way off.

The United States confirmed a sixth US case of the coronavirus, marking the first time the virus has spread from person to person in the United

Dr Peter Drobac from the University of Oxford says that the coronavirus outbreak in China is "cause for real concern but not cause for panic.".

Chinese officials added more than 1500 new cases of the coronavirus as countries stepped up their efforts to evacuate their citizens trapped in Wuhan.

With experts saying a vaccine is not imminent, more international cases of the illness appeared on Friday. Australia, Vietnam and South Korea all announced new coronavirus infections, while India and the Philippines had their first ones.