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Auckland Moves To Alert Level 1 – Expert Reaction
Auckland will join the rest of New Zealand at Alert Level 1 on Wednesday night, Jacinda Ardern has announced.
The decision comes nearly two weeks since the last evidence of community transmission. However, the Prime Minister urged Kiwis to continue using the COVID tracer app and to stay vigilant to COVID-19 symptoms.
The SMC asked experts to comment on the announcement.
Lesley Gray, Senior Lecturer, Department of Primary Health Care & General Practice, University of Otago, comments:
“I think the right decision will be a move to Level 1 for Auckland this week, although given our experience with unanticipated community transmission in August, I do feel that mask wearing on public transport should be required at all Alert Levels.
“I have observed that mask wearing on trains (for example) has dropped to very low numbers. It is encouraging that around 3 million people have now downloaded the Covid tracer app, however if people are not scanning when entering a business, or signing in if they do not have the app, is a bit like having fly screens on your windows with your doors wide open!
“The better we are at recording our movements, the quicker we can alert possible contacts if we were to have a future community outbreak. Maintaining good hand hygiene, covering coughs or sneezes and not becoming complacent are key.”
Conflict of interest statement: I am actively researching in this area with an HRC/MoH funded grant.
Dr Dougal Sutherland, Clinical Psychologist, Victoria University of Wellington and Umbrella Wellbeing, comments:
“Aucklanders will no doubt breathe a sigh of relief at today’s announcement of moving down to alert level 1. However, they should be wary about breathing that sigh of relief too heavily or without a face mask.
“The recent period of community transmission in Auckland will hopefully be the trigger for embedding public-health behaviours, such as using QR codes and wearing face coverings, into our everyday lives. For many, the end of our first lockdown period in May was followed by a sense of complacency and return to normal. We didn’t fully embrace the need to keep taking extra precautions when out in public. The second bout of community transmission in Auckland may well cement in our minds the need for continued caution and wariness, prompts which are necessary if we are to continue to engage in new behaviours like wearing face-coverings.
“COVID-19 has no moral compass. It can infect us no matter whether we think we deserve it or not. So we need to pay heed to the memory of what can happen if the virus escapes into the community and use that fear to sustain our safety behaviours.”
No conflict of interest.
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