‘Oku taupotu ‘i lalo ha fakamatala faka-Tonga
The Ardern government will likely impose pre-flight Covid checks on travellers from China, as Covid-19 numbers surge there, epidemiologist Michael Baker says.
China’s switch last month from the “zero-Covid” policy that it had maintained for nearly three years led to infections sweeping across the country unchecked, with experts suggesting there was inconsistency between case and death numbers officially reported and what was happening on the ground.
The Chinese government has rejected claims that it has deliberately underreported the total number of fatalities.
A New Zealand public health risk assessment report due today will help officials decide whether to require a negative Covid-19 test result before departure.
Baker said it was likely the government would follow Australia’s lead so those coming from China would have to to prove they were Covid-negative.
He said other countries – like the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada – had also recently introduced pre-departure testing for travellers from China.
However, he warned that any policy changes for people travelling from countries with high Covid-19 cases should be carefully worded.
He said changes to the rules should apply to any country where case numbers were surging or where there was not enough information to know the situation and the proportion of the population with Covid-19.
“It will be important that the policy is framed in a way that it has thresholds.”
Baker said China currently met both of those thresholds, but it was possible other nations would also have Covid-19 resurgences, particularly if new variants emerge.
Yesterday, NZ government duty minister Stuart Nash said New Zealand’s response would be proportionate to the potential risks from incoming travellers “and in the context of the international situation.”
Beijing recently announced it would end quarantine requirements for inbound travellers arriving in China early this month, and it was downgrading wider control measures to slow the disease, shifting away from its strict zero-Covid strategy.
On Friday, the World Health Organisation repeated its calls for China to share detailed data with the rest of the world about its Covid-19 situation.
Health officials called for specific and real-time figures, details of hospitalisations, deaths and vaccinations, and more details about genetic sequencing results.
FAKAMATALA FAKATONGA
āE ngali naāa fiemaāu ha tuāutuāuni ki he kau folau mei Siaina ki Nuāu Sila niā ka nau toki tÅ«āuta heni fakatatau ki he fakamatala āa Michael Baker ko e āepitemolosia.
Naāe mavahe āa Siaina mei heāene polisi āKoviti noaā āi he mÄhina kuo āosiā āa ia ko e taāuāaki ia āe mei tolu āene ngÄueāaki pea kuo tupulaki ai āa e mahaki he fonua, āo pehe āe he kau mataotao āoku āi ai e fetÅāaki āi he tokolahiā o e ngaahi keisi āo e mateā kuo lipooti, mo meāa totonu āoku hokoā.
Kuo fakaāikaiāi āe he puleāanga Siaina āa e pehÄ naāa nau mÄtuāaki lipooti ke pehÄ ne siāi pe āa e mateā.
Naāe pehe āe Baker ngali āe muimui āa Nuāu Sila āi āAositelelia āa e pau ke fakamoāoniāi āoku āikai puke āa kinautolu fou mei Siaina āi he Kovitiā.
Naāaā ne pehÄ āoku fai āe āAmelika, PilitÄnia mo e KÄtana āa e meāa tatau ki he pau ke muāaki tesi āa e kau folau mei Siainaā.
Neongo ia naāaā ne fakatokanga āe lava ke liliu āa e polisÄ« kia kinautolu ko ia folau mei he ngaahi fonua āoku kei mÄāolunga ai āa e Kovitiā.
Naāaā ne pehÄ ko e ngaahi liliu ki he ngaahi tuāutuāuniā āoku totonu ke āapalai ki ha fonua pe āoku toe tupulaki ai āa e mahaki pe āikai ha fuāu fakamatala mahino ki he tuāunga āoku āi ai āa e Koviti mo hono fakahoa ki honau tokolahiā.
Naāaā ne pehÄ āoku mahuāinga ke faāu āa e polisiiā āi ha founga ke āi ai hano kamataāanga.
PehÄ āe Baker kuo āosi aāu āa Siaina ia ki he kamataāanga, ka āoku malava kuo toe kamata āa e Kovitiā āi he ngaahi fonua kehe, tautefito ki he fÅtunga foāou āo e Kovitiā.
Naāe pehÄ āe he Minisita āa e puleāanga Nuāu Silaā āaneafi, Stuart Nash ko e tali āa Nuāu Sila āe fakahoa ki he malava fakatuāutÄmaki āa e kau folau mai pea fakatatau ki he tuāunga āoku āi ai āa e mahakiā fakavahaāapuleāangaā.
Naāe toki fanongonongo āe Beijing āe fakangata āene ngaahi fiemaāu kolonitini ki he kau folau mai mei Siainaā he konga ki muāa mÄhina niā, pea naāe toe holoki hifo mo āene ngaahi tuāutuāuni ke fakatuaāi āa e mahaki, āo āikai ai toe nofo ki heāene tuāutuāuni fefeka ko e pau ke āikai ha toe Kovitiā.
Naāe toutou ui foki āa e Kautaha Moāui āa MÄmaniā ki Siaina ke tuku ange mai kia kinautolu mo e toenga āo mÄmaniā āa e fakamatala fakaikiiki ki he tuāunga ne āi ai āa e Koviti.