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: zero-COVID policies
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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China’s population dropped for a second straight year as deaths jumped after COVID lockdowns ended
China’s population dropped by 2 million people in 2023 in the second straight annual drop as births fell and deaths jumped after the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, the government said Wednesday.
The number of deaths rose by 690,000 to 11.1 million, more than double last year’s increase. Demographers were expecting a sharp rise in deaths because of COVID-19 outbreaks that started at the end of the previous year and continued through February of last year. The total population stood at 1.4 billion, the statistics bureau said. China, long the most populated country in the world, dropped into second place behind India in 2023, according to U.N. estimates.
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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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Study: China saw almost 2 million excess deaths just after zero-COVID policy ended
In JAMA Network Open, authors describe how the all-cause mortality rate in China increased after the nation lifted its “zero COVID” policy, resulting in an estimated 1.87 million excess deaths during the first 2 months following the end of the policy.
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What can the world learn from China’s “zero-Covid” lockdown?
For the first time in three years, millions traveled within China earlier this month to reunite with loved ones for the country’s most important holiday, the Lunar New Year. Unfortunately, these celebrations coincided with — and are sure to exacerbate — a Covid-19 outbreak currently spreading throughout the country.
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Why China’s ‘zero COVID’ policy is finally faltering
For nearly three years now, China has had incredible success at keeping its number of COVID deaths relatively low. So far, the country has recorded only about 6,000 deaths among 1.4 billion people. By comparison, the U.S. has recorded more than a million deaths in a population of only 330 million.
China has accomplished this feat with what’s known as a “zero COVID” policy – using strict lockdowns and community-wide testing and other measures to keep case counts close to nil.
Comments closedTopic: New ZealandView all posts for the topic: New Zealand
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.
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The ‘zero-Covid’ approach got bad press, but it worked – and it could work again
The places that chose to pursue elimination suffered less overall. Unfortunately, few had the determination to do so.
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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
Comments closed Topic: New ZealandView all posts for the topic: New Zealand
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.
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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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