Chinanews.com, February 24th. According to New Zealand's Skyway.com, on February 24th local time, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that he would extend the travel ban for another eight days. The ban will still be reviewed every 48 hours.
The New Zealand Prime Minister said that New Zealanders, including citizens and permanent residents and their immediate family members, were still exempt from the ban but needed to be isolated for 14 days.
She also said that the government is still discussing whether to exempt Chinese students coming to university in New Zealand so that they can continue their studies, but universities must develop effective self-isolation measures and measures to ensure that public health is not threatened before the exemption can be implemented. .
The Prime Minister of New Zealand reiterated the importance of the ban, saying that it is the current travel ban that has prevented new cases of coronary pneumonia in New Zealand and allowed us time to understand the virus, its transmission patterns, and how to prevent it. In addition, she confirmed that the travel ban will not be extended to other countries at this time.
She emphasized that if the epidemic really happened, New Zealand would have adequate medical facilities and equipment, such as anti-virus and masks, to respond to the problem, including 9 million P2 masks and another 9 million general surgical masks. ICU facilities are also in place.
The New Zealand Prime Minister stated that 15 local health committees across the country had negative pressure isolation rooms. It is said that such a negative pressure room can prevent cross infection of the ward and the ward. In addition, the New Zealand testing laboratory has also been put into use. And New Zealand is the only country in the world with a health line. Although a large-scale new crown pneumonia outbreak is not expected in New Zealand, she has prepared for the pandemic.
She said that New Zealand has an effective defense mechanism. If there is a case in New Zealand, then we already have an effective mechanism to protect New Zealand and the Pacific island countries.
When referring to China-Singapore relations, she said that we had already contacted the ambassador. New Zealanders are with the Chinese, and our decisions are based on public health considerations.
New Zealand Finance Minister Grant Robertson said the economic advisory team is conducting more in-depth research on the impact of new crown pneumonia on the New Zealand economy.
Katrina Casey, deputy secretary general of the Ministry of Education, told reporters that nearly half of Chinese students are still stranded outside New Zealand. In addition to the impact on student learning, we expect the school's direct loss of tuition income to be as high as $ 90 million. But the situation is still evolving, and the specific impact will be determined by a number of factors, such as the length of the travel ban.
Earlier, the University of New Zealand had been asking the government for permission to waive visas for international students so that Chinese students could enter New Zealand for school.
But on the 21st, the Immigration Department stated on whether Chinese students can waive the travel ban, saying that the new crown virus is a global public health issue, and the government's priority is to ensure people's health and safety in New Zealand. Any proposal to change border measures needs to be based on public health information and advice. The New Zealand government and universities will continue to support international students affected by the coronavirus. The New Zealand government regularly reviews its policies.