National’s 10 point Omicron plan in brief

The National party have released their plan on how they would react to the Omicron strand.

With a strident resurgence due to celebrity politician Chris Lixon, National will be wanting to capitalise on the strong comeback.

There has, however, been significant concerns raised that National party policy, whoever the leader, appears to merely tweak Labour policy with some ‘louder’ policies being adjusted more significantly with expected fanfare.

Here is National’s 10 points with their action points.

What do you think?

1. Accelerate boosters and youth vaccines

  • Coordinate a vaccination surge to get our booster rate up, particularly among the most vulnerable; that means working with GPs, Māori health providers and community groups to inundate rest homes, retirement villages and at-risk communities with boosters.
  • Speed up the vaccine rollout for 5-11 year olds with pop-up vaccination clinics in schools (with strict parental consent provisions in place).
  • Expedite the process for approving boosters for under 18 year olds and consider a shorter gap between first and second doses for 5-11 year olds as some jurisdictions have done.
  • Make the Novavax vaccine available once it is approved by Medsafe.

2. Update the testing regime with rapid tests

  • Stop the policy of requisitioning rapid antigen tests from private purchasers.
  • Increase supply by immediately approving all of the RATs that have already been approved in Australia for use in New Zealand.
  • Lift the ban on RATs and allow pharmacies and supermarkets to sell RATs.
  • Immediately order sufficient RATs to ensure that supply is not a barrier to getting tested.
  • Integrate at-home RATs with the contact tracing system to allow people to upload their results using a simple mobile app.
  • Increase the opening hours for testing stations in our main centres; ideally these should be open 24/7 over the coming 2-3 months.
  • Contract private sector companies offering saliva PCR testing to increase PCR capacity.

3. Increase use of high-quality masks

  • Require gold standard, fit-tested respirator-style masks (N95, KN95, P2) at all high-risk venues such as frontline healthcare, aged-care facilities and the border.
  • Distribute gold standard masks to as many high-risk venues as possible, but particularly aged-care, border and frontline health facilities.
  • Ensure high-quality (blue) surgical masks are widely available at pharmacies and supermarkets.

4. Shorten isolation periods & fix community support

  • Shorten the isolation period for close contacts and cases to seven days.
  • Allow anyone who is a close contact and is asymptomatic to test to return to work using a RAT.
  • Repurpose MIQ facilities (see below) for those who don’t have appropriate places to isolate.
  • Re-allocate resources from contact tracing teams as they become redundant to increase staffing at Healthline to support those isolating at home.
  • Engage civil society groups, iwi, and the voluntary sector to distribute isolation care packs to support vulnerable people in the community in case they are required to self isolate.

5. Increase access to Covid treatments 

  • Consider emergency authorisation of treatments that have already been approved by regulatory agencies in countries like the UK, Australia and the US.
  • Secure sufficient supply of Covid treatments to ensure high-risk cases who need them can get early access.

6. End MIQ and let stranded Kiwis come home

  • End mandatory MIQ stays for fully vaccinated, Covid-negative travellers and replace with self-isolation.
  • Prioritise returning Kiwis as well as overseas critical health care workers, teachers, and other essential workers who have been issued work visas to also enter New Zealand via self-isolation.
  • Move quickly to allow self-isolation for fully vaccinated, Covid-negative non-Kiwis such as tourists, international students and other visa categories.
  • Repurpose MIQ facilities to provide those who don’t have a suitable space to self-isolate at home with a safer option.

7. Reinforce the health system

  • Plug the holes in our health care workforce by immediately bringing critical health care workers such as trained ICU nurses and specialists into the country (using self-isolation).
  • Fast track credentialing for overseas health care workers who are already onshore and have passed required examinations but have not been able to complete work experience requirements.
  • Work with the primary care sector (GPs, Māori health providers, pharmacists) to ensure they are prepared and resourced to deliver care and services to people self-isolating.
  • This will include the ability to treat low-risk patients in their homes, deliver 24/7 health advice, and monitor patients in the community and at home.

8. Clarify available financial support

  • Clarify what financial support will be available for businesses affected by widespread isolation requirements for their workers.
  • Ensure all financial support is processed and released with minimal delay, so everyone who needs to isolate is able to.
  • Provide details of the targeted support already promised for highly affected sectors so they can plan ahead and make critical decisions about their survival.

9. Ensure children can learn safely

  • Provide every school with sufficient rapid antigen tests to conduct twice-weekly surveillance testing for all students, teachers and staff.
  • Engage New Zealand scientists who are ventilation specialists to design best practice guidelines for classroom ventilation using the latest international evidence.
  • Using the above information, conduct ventilation assessments in every school to identify areas of poor ventilation so these can be either addressed or avoided.
  • Provide schools with CO2 monitors as a tool to assess ventilation, along with guidance on how to use them so schools can continue to monitor and improve ventilation and reduce the risk of rapid spread.
  • Allow the hundreds of teachers who have been issued visas but are stuck offshore due to the lack of MIQ spaces to enter the country immediately and self-isolate (they must test negative before entering classrooms).

10. Specify the criteria for removing restrictions

“Nothing needs to be set in stone, but at the very least the New Zealand public deserve to know what the triggers will be – in terms of case numbers, booster coverage, or falling hospitalisation rates – for us to start removing restrictions, including:

  • The move from Red to Orange to Green under the traffic light system.
  • The eventual removal of gathering limits and restrictions on hospitality.
  • When the vaccine pass system will no longer be required.
  • At what point will vaccine mandates will be allowed to expire.
Spread the Truth:
, , , ,
Latest Stories

RELATED ARTICLES:

Menu