From the House: Stuart Nash says stay healthy, be kind and keep spending

Police Minister Stuart Nash. Photo / File

Wuhan. Wall Street. The WHO in Geneva. The Vatican. The Beehive. A fish factory in Nelson. A bank boardroom. A GP's clinic. We are all completely engaged and focused on one issue: the response to Covid-19.

Take a trip around these places in your head, and no one would blame you for trying to make sense of it. Let me break it down into its two main elements: how to protect your health, and how to actively support the economy.

Don't be daunted! There is cause for optimism.

Public health is the top priority. We put border controls in place on travel from China and Iran before many other countries acted. We identified Italy and South Korea as high risk places very early in the piece. Those decisions have paid dividends so far.

We got some very positive news this week – all five New Zealanders who contracted Covid-19, from links to Italy and Iran, are now being treated at home. Two had earlier been admitted to hospital but are now discharged. That's great for them. Every known person they have been in contact with has been traced. At the time of writing this, there had been five consecutive days with no new cases reported.

There's other really heartening news too. A whopping 9000-plus people chose to self-isolate over the past few weeks. That's exactly the best response by ordinary Kiwis. Most of them have been able to end their isolation, and now there are around 2100 people or households still in self-isolation.

Do not put yourself or others at risk if you are unwell. Don't go to work or go out in public if you are sick. All of us have a role to play in stopping further spread. This is absolutely critical.

There are concerts and large gatherings this weekend – many to mark the commemoration of the March 15 terror attack. Please stay home if you're unwell. And if you have friends or relatives in an aged care facility or rest home, do not visit them if you are feeling unwell. They are among our most vulnerable.

Now is the time to be even more vigilant. Everyone can help by ensuring good health practices – you all know the safest way to follow good hygiene.

And please – don't keep your kids away from school because you're frightened of rumours. Follow the advice of experts, health professionals and your school, not ill-informed gossip. Conspiracy theorists should be ignored.

Call Healthline on 0800 358 5453 if you have any symptoms or have been to any countries of concern or have been in close contact with someone affected. And if you just want to learn more about the health issues and stay up to date with advice, the Ministry of Health website has heaps of resources on its website health.govt.nz.

The economic impact is rather different because we are part of a global phenomenon. The best policy we can follow to keep our economic healthy is to keep our people healthy and contain the spread of the virus.

The disruptions from Covid-19 are very different to other challenges the economy has faced in the past decade. This is not a structural economic problem like the Global Financial Crisis, nor a localised natural disaster like the Canterbury and Kaikōura earthquakes.

This is an evolving, global health crisis. Businesses, industries, and regions are being impacted differently and even some operators within the same sector are seeing uneven impacts.

As Fisheries Minister, I know the rock lobster market in China has collapsed. I took steps in February to help out the industry and to give them business certainty. Despite the setbacks for rock lobster, the export market for premium salmon, for hoki, squid, mussels and frozen fish products is strong.

I visited Nelson this week, which has the largest fishing port in Australasia. Big fishing companies there say they have experienced minimal disruptions from Covid-19, and have even noticed that China is "back in business again".

The Agriculture Minister also stepped in this week to unlock drought relief for the entire North Island.

We are actively pushing through a tailor-made response, not wholesale changes and knee-jerk reactions.

We are supporting the wellbeing and livelihoods of New Zealanders and their businesses through this difficult period, so that when the economy recovers we are all in a strong position to bounce back.

Overall, we're starting from a good position because of our careful economic management: solid growth, low debt, low unemployment, and a surplus.

Stay tuned for more announcements next week. There will be more details of a targeted wage subsidy scheme for workers in the worst-hit sectors. There will be details of support for re-training and redeployment options, and other work we are doing alongside the big banks to ensure credit and cashflow continues.

While the Government has an important leadership role to play throughout this time, it is up to all New Zealanders and businesses to do their part as well. Stay healthy, keep spending, look out for each other and be kind.

• Stuart Nash is the MP for Napier and the Minister of Police.