Scientists around the world are racing to develop a vaccine for Covid-19. Chinese company Sinovac gives rare access to how one is created. Video / Sky News / Getty
There are two new Covid-19 cases in managed isolation.
There are no new community cases today.
The first imported case arrived on 7 October from Bangladesh, via Brisbane and Doha. The person was taken to a managed isolation facility in Hamilton and tested positive as part of routine day 3testing. Following their positive result, they have now been transferred to Auckland's quarantine facility.
The second case arrived on 9 October from London, via Dubai and was taken to a managed isolation facility in Hamilton. They tested positive as part of routine day 3 testing and have been transferred to Auckland's quarantine facility.
There is one additional recovered case to report today.
Professor Michael Baker's criticisms come as public comments around lockdowns by Dr David Nabarro, the WHO's special envoy for Covid-19, have caused some confusion.
In one interview with UK magazine Spectator this month, Nabarro said he believed lockdowns should only be used to buy authorities time to set up effective public health systems.
But that general statement didn't apply to New Zealand's unique case, experts here have since pointed out.
And this morning, WHO spokeswoman Dr Margaret Harris fronted to RNZ to clarify messaging around lockdowns, stressing that countries needed to "do it all" rather than solely rely on lockdowns.
There was one new case announced yesterday. They were in managed isolation. Photo / Dean Purcell
In any case, Baker, an Otago University epidemiologist who has staunchly advocated New Zealand's successful elimination strategy, said the pandemic had shown a need to be "very cautious" about acting on advice from overseas organisations.
Western agencies like the WHO, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, which New Zealand had traditionally looked to, had "let us all down badly" over Covid-19.
And with it, the restrictions of alert levels 2, 2.5, 3, and 4 feel like a distant memory while countries overseas continue to struggle with their Covid-19 responses.
Yesterday, the British government carved England into three tiers of coronavirus risk in a bid to slow a resurgent outbreak heading into their winter.
Melbourne remains in lockdown, having been at stage four since August 2 with 12 new Covid-19 cases and one death reported yesterday.
