New Zealanders are being warned against COVID-19 complacency after concerning new figures showed many Kiwis aren't getting tested despite having symptoms.
Aotearoa has been largely successful in fighting the virus - which has infected nearly 19 million people worldwide - with only 22 active cases, all of which are located in managed isolation or quarantine facilities. We haven't seen a case from an unknown local source in more than three months and community testing over the last week hasn't picked up a single case.
However, testing numbers have dipped and with a lack of restrictions domestically compared to other countries, there have been concerns Kiwis are getting complacent.
Results of a survey of 800 New Zealanders conducted late in July were released on Tuesday and showed just under half of those with symptoms didn't get tested for COVID-19, with three-quarters saying they didn't think they had the respiratory virus.
University of Otago Professor of Public Health Michael Baker told Newshub there are "no grounds whatsoever" for complacency.
"We only have to look over at Victoria to know things can deteriorate very rapidly. This is a very infectious virus," Prof Baker said.
"We have thousands of people in New Zealand who are returning from overseas in managed isolation and quarantine. Some of them are infected with the virus and some of them may be incubating it. There is the ever-present risk that we may get an outbreak in New Zealand any day.
"We can't be complacent at all. We have not sealed ourselves off from the rest of the world. The situation in Victoria could be us today or tomorrow."
Melbourne, Victoria is currently in a state of disaster after a rapid surge in cases. Overall, it has recorded more than 12,000 cases, with 439 reported on Tuesday alone. It's now under a lockdown similar to what New Zealand saw at alert level 4 and also has an overnight curfew in place.
If another outbreak was to occur in New Zealand, targeted testing and effective contact tracing will be crucial. The Ministry of Health's COVID Tracer app last week began allowing Kiwis to manually enter their locations to encourage use.
"If we get an outbreak, this is how it will appear: Someone in a particular corner of New Zealand will suddenly get a cough and fever or a sore throat or even sneezing and runny nose and symptoms like loss of smell and taste. All of those can be features of this infection at its early stage," Prof Baker said.
Deploying all our tools to avoid lockdown
Dr Bloomfield told The AM Show on Wednesday it's "not a matter of if, but when, we do get the virus back in the community". He said we can avoid going back into lockdown through contact tracing, quickly isolating people and lots of testing. Officials may also look at recommending mask use in crowded spaces.
"The idea is to deploy all the tools in the toy box to prevent having to go up an alert level," he said.
Prof Baker advises Kiwis to get a reusable fabric mask and know when to use them.
"The benefits we know from that are that it could avoid the need for such an intense lockdown. I think if people in Victoria had been able to access and use masks right away they might be in a better position than they are now."
Dr Bloomfield said New Zealand has a strong border process, but that doesn't mean the "tricky" virus won't sneak through. Currently, anyone entering New Zealand must enter managed isolation or quarantine for at least 14 days, with each person being tested twice during their stay. Officials working in airports and at isolation facilities are also frequently tested for the virus.
"There is always an opportunity to do better. We are not resting on our laurels here. Remembering we've got 32 of these managed isolation and quarantine facilities. I visited several. They are excellent, the staff there do great work," the Director-General said.
"But we do know from when we had the virus here earlier in the year, it's tricky. We had healthcare staff who were using full PPE, absolutely trained in it, looking after people with the virus, coming into contact with them, who themselves got infected.
"That is what we are being really vigilant about and making sure that if someone does carry the virus out of the managed isolation and quarantine, obviously by accident, that we find it quickly."
Dr Bloomfield said while Victoria is often pointed to as an example of what could go wrong, neighbouring New South Wales has a relatively low number of cases because it is effectively testing, isolating and contact tracing.
"That's the example we want to follow".
