Coronavirus: What Whanganui's medical officer of health says about the outbreak

Reporter Lucy Drake speaks to Whanganui's medical officer of health about the coronavirus outbreak, how it is being managed and what we need to do.

Whanganui's medical officer of health, Dr Patrick O'Connor, has confirmed three people in the region have been tested for the virus - all testing negative.

He has also confirmed a small number of people out of the 2145 registered for self-isolation nationwide are from Whanganui.

"These people have been tested for various reasons having had contact in early days with those who travelled to China, been in contact with a known case and we had someone who had been to the Tool concert," O'Connor.

There was a high probability that over the course of time there will be a case in Whanganui, he said.

"We are not seeing a lot of community transmissions which is good but people will still travel, so I anticipate there will likely be a case here.

"We need to treat this seriously but we need to normalise our reaction."

The DHB has formed an Incident Management Team as a first step and the team has been receiving updates daily from the Ministry of Health.

O'Connor said the DHB has a pandemic plan in place if the situation was to escalate in Whanganui.

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The plan has previously been put in place when Sars coronavirus was identified in 2003, however, they did not need to implement it.

"The great majority of infections will not come to hospital, this is not the place for them unless they require hospital care but if we get lots of cases or those who require this care then we have four negative pressure rooms, six intensive care beds and access to three ventilators from there and other ventilators around the hospital."

They also have access to other hospitals that patients could be transferred to.

Dr Patrick O'Connor believes there will not be a vaccine for Covid-19 for another 12-18 months that is safe and effective to use. Photo / Bevan Conley

In regard to DHB staff travelling abroad, he said they are still clarifying the issues around this.

O'Connor said they are trying to avoid having an influx of cases all at once caused by a widespread community transmission because this will overload the health system.

By having the aim to have a slow burn of cases, he said the only disadvantage of this is they will be talking about Covid-19 for quite a long time.

And for those rushing to the supermarket to stock up on toilet paper, O'Connor said he is intrigued as to why toilet paper is at the top of everyone's list for a respiratory infection but he understands if it is the fear of being in self-isolation for 14 days.

"It is serious but we have five cases in New Zealand at the moment, that's one case per one million people, it's not spreading like wildfire right now and I'm not saying it's not going to spread but I think we have a lot of things in our favour here."

The main difference between coronavirus and influenza, although they display similar symptoms such as coughing, fever and difficulty breathing, is that there is a longer gap between cases and when a person can get infected.

"When a person gets infected they're probably going to be unwell in a week's time whereas the influenza gap is quicker and can gallop away on you.

"The advantage with this one is we've got a few days to spare when we find a case, we've got time to identify contacts, suggest or insist on isolation and make people aware of the symptoms to look for."

What you need to know

He said another key difference is the mortality rate for Covid-19 is already higher than the seasonal flu.

"That is a very sad feature and why it will remain at a level of anxiety a pitch higher than influenza.

"With influenza season we feel we've got a little bit of protection because of the vaccine, we don't have a vaccine here for Covid-19."

He believes it is likely to be 12-18 months before a vaccine is developed and tested and is safe and effective to use.

Due to mortality statistics of Covid-19, the virus is proving more harmful to older age groups and O'Connor confirmed the virus is more harmful to this age group and those who have a pre-existing medical condition.

If Whanganui was to encounter a number of Covid-19 cases and for those who would require care for the virus, the Whanganui Hospital has facilities available. Photo / Photo / Lewis Gardner

Leading into the winter months and influenza season, O'Connor said it would be good to avoid two bad viruses at once and by getting the influenza jab.

"It is not going to stop Covid-19 but is going to keep the numbers of seasonal influenza down.

"We consistently have the highest rate of influenza vaccines for those over 65 nationwide and I'm pretty confident we will have this again but the rest of the population can consider this as well."

O'Connor said people who had visited mainland China, Iran, South Korea or northern Italy in the past 14 days should self-isolate for 14 days even if they had no symptoms. They should call the Healthline on 0800 358 5453 and tell them they were in self-isolation.

People who had visited Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Thailand or the rest of Italy in the past 14 days should call the Healthline and inform them and watch out for symptoms. O'Connor advised people thinking of travelling overseas to check safetravel.govt.nz for the latest travel advisories.

If people have symptoms of coronavirus and need to see their GP, they should phone ahead for relevant instructions. Likewise, people heading to Whanganui Hospital should phone ahead on 06 348 1234.