Comments closedThese findings provide further evidence supporting the effectiveness of the elimination strategy for minimising mortality from the pandemic.
Topic: New ZealandView all posts for the topic: New Zealand
Tag: New Zealand
Topic: New ZealandView all posts for the topic: New Zealand
Long Covid: Teachers, healthcare workers most vulnerable occupations, report finds
Comments closedSome people who had Long Covid early in 2020 are still not well. So the experience of being not listened to and not believed has been very harmful for them alongside the very considerable health impacts that they’ve had from Long Covid. […] The cost of inaction is going to be very high and that’s going to be a human cost and a financial cost.
Topic: New ZealandView all posts for the topic: New Zealand
Covid-19: Vaccines saved thousands of lives during Omicron outbreak, study estimates
A new study estimates vaccines prevented between 4000 and 12,000 deaths during the Omicron phase of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The paper, published in the medical journal Vaccine, models scenarios with different levels of vaccine coverage in the 18 months from January 2022.
The authors say the elimination strategy meant most people were able to be vaccinated before being exposed to the virus.
The researchers say it meant there were between 34,000 and 56,000 fewer hospitalisations over the period.
Continue readingCovid-19: Vaccines saved thousands of lives during Omicron outbreak, study estimates
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Warning sounded over any moves to defund Covid-19 vaccine
A vaccinologist is warning that restricting access to the Covid-19 vaccine could send a message that it is no longer important.
Covid-19 vaccines and boosters have always been provided free-of-charge – but that funding commitment is due to expire at the end of June next year.
It is possible the Government could move to a more targeted approach like with flu vaccines – where only vulnerable populations get them for free.
Comments closedTopic: New ZealandView all posts for the topic: New Zealand
New Zealand Covid response saved 20,000 lives, study says
Government’s strategy, which included closing the border, meant death rate was 80% lower than in the US, according to the New Zealand Medical Journal.
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New Zealand removes final COVID-19 restrictions
New Zealand’s government will lift all remaining COVID-19 requirements from midnight Tuesday, bringing an end to some of the toughest COVID-19 pandemic rules in the world more than three years after they were put in place.
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New Zealand’s Covid strategy was one of the world’s most successful – what can we learn from it?
Two weeks ago marked the two-year anniversary of New Zealand’s adoption of the elimination strategy and a lockdown that successfully stamped out the first wave of Covid-19. By chance, it was also the week that the government announced a major relaxation of Covid-19 control measures in response to the Omicron variant wave sweeping the country.
Comments closedTopic: zero-COVID policiesView all posts for the topic: zero-COVID policies
All countries should pursue a Covid-19 elimination strategy: here are 16 reasons why
The past year of Covid-19 has taught us that it is the behaviour of governments, more than the behaviour of the virus or individuals, that shapes countries’ experience of the crisis. Talking about pandemic waves has given the virus far too much agency: until quite recently the apparent waves of infection were driven by government action and inaction. It is only now with the emergence of more infectious variants that it might be appropriate to talk about a true second wave.
As governments draw up their battle plans for year two, we might expect them to base their strategies on the wealth of data about what works best. And the evidence to date suggests that countries pursuing elimination of Covid-19 are performing much better than those trying to suppress the virus. Aiming for zero-Covid is producing more positive results than trying to “live with the virus.”
Continue readingAll countries should pursue a Covid-19 elimination strategy: here are 16 reasons why
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Ardern reveals the moment she chose Covid elimination strategy
New Zealand’s decision to eliminate coronavirus stemmed as much from fear as ambition, the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has revealed, saying there was a point at which she realised the health system simply couldn’t cope with a big outbreak.
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New Zealand suspects ‘some failure at the border’ after COVID-19 returns
New Zealand officials and scientists are eying a breach in isolation security as the possible cause of the first cases of community transmission in the country in 102 days. Investigators are exploring several possibilities, but experts believe the alternatives—that the virus was circulating undetected or that it entered the country on a freight shipment—are unlikely.
Comments closedTopic: pandemic responseView all posts for the topic: pandemic response
What We Can Learn from Six Countries’ Pandemic Battle Plans
Laissez-faire. Lockdowns. Mitigation. Testing. Denial. Elimination.
The world has responded to the pandemic with a diversity of strategies.
Some appear to be working well, while others are just coping or failing altogether.
And history appears to have prepared some countries better than others.
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