WELLINGTON, Jul 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) – New Zealand’s Alert Level system for the COVID-19 needs an urgent revamp, to suit the evolving pandemic, said University of Otago researchers, in an article in journal Lancet Regional Health.
The researchers said, the current alert level system was designed for last year’s pandemic context, calling for an upgraded system that better suits Maori communities, and reflects new health knowledge, such as strengthening measures on face masks and ventilation to prevent virus spread from air.
COVID-19 transmission in countries outside New Zealand is driving the emergence of new variants that are increasingly transmissible and may evade protection by current vaccines. In practice, this means that true collective immunity will be difficult to achieve using vaccines alone.
To navigate the new variant phase of the pandemic, New Zealanders need to have vaccination and public health and social measures working together, particularly while the majority of New Zealanders are unvaccinated, the paper said.
The researchers said, New Zealand needs an Alert Level system to support transition into a post-vaccination future.
New Zealand reported five new cases of COVID-19, related to recent returnees in managed isolation facilities, with no cases in the community reported today. The total number of confirmed cases is 2,438, according to the Ministry of Health.– NNN-AGENCIES
