Thread by @CherylMorrisW

How New Zealand could keep eliminating coronavirus at its border for months to come, even as the global pandemic worsens

sciblogs.co.nz/covid-19/2020/…

#NewZealand 🇳🇿 #coronavirus 😷 #COVID

"Since New Zealand closed its borders on March 19, the rate of COVID-19 infections globally has increased 50-fold, to more than 13 million confirmed cases worldwide.

All new arrivals to New Zealand have to spend 14 days in quarantine at government-managed hotels."

#NewZealand

"Each person has to have a #COVID-19 swab test on the third and 12th day of their quarantine period and cannot leave without a negative test result.

A shorter #quarantine period would significantly increase the risk of an infectious person being released. The swab tests...

...for #COVID-19 have quite high rates of false negative results, so even with multiple tests, a shorter quarantine period could miss too many cases."

"Allowing mingling of people within quarantine, or contact between staff and recent arrivals, is also very risky. And our...

...model doesn’t take into account people deliberately absconding from quarantine, which has happened four times. It is incumbent on everyone to do the right thing and follow the rules."

"#NewZealand has had a total of 1,548 cases of COVID-19 and 22 people have died."

"Prime Minister #JacindaArdern yesterday announced plans for local or regional lockdowns should the virus reemerge in the community. She referred to the #Australian state of #Victoria, where the current outbreak appears to be linked to cases at a managed isolation facility...

...as a cautionary tale for #NewZealand."

"New Zealand is in a rare position of having eliminated community transmission of COVID-19. This means we currently enjoy more freedoms than people in most other countries."

"But this elimination status poses its own challenges...

... in returning to life as usual when the rest of the world is in an accelerating pandemic. Other countries that have followed a mitigation strategy are facing equally big social and economic challenges of their own. And this is on top of the devastating health impacts...

...that New Zealand has so far managed to largely avoid."

#NewZealand 🇳🇿 #COVID 😷 #Covid_19

#DumbDonald's many failings become even more apparent went he is viewed alongside a real leader like #JacindaArdern

Don't let Science get in the way of the #IdiotInChief's wishes.... 😠

#Trump* #schoolsreopening #GOP 😷 #mailedit
#SchoolsMustShutdown #GOPGenocide #EndTheNightmare

👀 👇

https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1283879078374903811?s=19