Using the NZ COVID Tracer app is a small price to pay for New Zealand's freedom - but with app usage dropping significantly, the country could be facing heightened restrictions for Christmas if Kiwis don't "get with the programme", says Dr Ashley Bloomfield.
The Director-General of Health has addressed comments made by Sir David Skegg, an Otago University Emeritus Professor of epidemiology and public health, lambasting New Zealand's border control for its "failures". The procedures at the border have repeatedly come under scrutiny this year following a string of blunders - the latest being the community infection of a managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) staffer at the Sudima Christchurch Airport facility.
It was announced on Tuesday that a second staff member had also tested positive for the virus.
"This is the sixth case we've had in three months of the virus escaping through the border, and it's clearly a failure of infection control," Dr Skegg told Newshub on Tuesday.
"Obviously there's a risk of transmission into the community and given our general level of complacency in New Zealand, I think sooner or later we are going to have the risk of another lockdown."
Speaking to The AM Show on Wednesday, Dr Bloomfield disagreed with Dr Skegg's suggestion that slack border control may result in an alert level shift.
"I think our border is not slack, it's very tight and we have these layers of defence - remembering over 60,000 people have come through since March," he said.
"We continue to strengthen and audit all of the procedures to make sure we're not letting the virus out into the community... [considering] the hundreds of thousands of interactions between people in there and how tricky this virus is, I think the system is working well."
However, the leading public health official did agree that Kiwis are becoming too complacent under alert level 1. During the regular Ministry of Health press conference on Tuesday, newly-minted Minister of COVID-19 Response Chris Hipkins noted a "significant drop-off" in usage of the NZ COVID Tracer app, the Government's official contact tracing technology. App uptake rose following the reemergence of COVID-19 in Auckland two-and-a-half months ago, however it appears the diminished threat has lulled Kiwis into a false sense of security.
"He's right in that this is alert level 1, not alert level none... we've just seen this case in Christchurch, we pushed out a notification to people who had been at the supermarket, and less than 20 had scanned in," Dr Bloomfield said.
"This is a simple thing to do, and if we want an alert level 1 Christmas break, I think people need to start improving their efforts in this area and get with the programme."
"Are you saying that Christmas could be at a different alert level?" host Duncan Garner pressed.
"That's what we're all trying to prevent. Things people can do are those basics - one of those is using the app regularly and keeping a record, we just need to get into a habit. The virus is not going anywhere anytime soon," the health officials responded.
"So using the app, not going to work [and] getting a test when unwell... all New Zealanders need to remember they have got a role to play."
Dr Bloomfield doubled-down on his comments, reiterating that remaining under alert level 1 for the holiday season is dependent on a collective effort.
"I'm really keen - and I know New Zealanders are - to have a really good break over Christmas and New Year, and in a sense that's in all our hands," he warned.
"We all need to make sure we're upping our game around the app... everybody knows what [the public health measures] are, get with it."
First health worker's infection linked to Russian fishermen
Dr Bloomfield also confirmed that genome sequencing has found a "direct match" between Monday's community case and five infected fishermen completing managed isolation at the Sudima Christchurch Airport, the facility where the staffer works.
The hotel has been serving as a dedicated facility for 235 foreign fishermen, who arrived on a chartered flight from Russia in October to fill a labour shortage. Thirty-one of the crew have since tested positive for COVID-19.
Following their isolation period, the mariners will work on fishing boats run by Sealord, Independent Fisheries and Maruha Nichiro. The three companies are covering the quarantine costs, which are expected to reach roughly $1 million.
Dr Bloomfield said the link identified by the genome sequencing is positive as it confirms the worker became infected at the facility and not elsewhere in the community. Health officials can now investigate how exactly the staffer contracted the virus.
He said the ministry is not planning to release the fishermen from the facility until it's understood how the infection occurred.
Tuesday's community case - a second health worker at the facility - is asymptomatic and like the first staffer, had tested negative as part of routine testing on Thursday. They were retested after being identified as a close contact of Monday's case.
It was revealed on Tuesday that a student at Christchurch's Cashmere High School has been recorded as another close contact of the first worker, but tested negative for the virus.
Dr Bloomfield confirmed there are "no plans at this point in time" to shift Christchurch or wider New Zealand up the alert levels, reiterating comments made by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Tuesday.
