Covid-19

New face mask exemption card will have legal standing, Hipkins says

Published

5 years ago

April 27, 2022

The government is rolling out a new face mask exemption card for people with genuine reasons not to wear one.

Unlike the old exemptions, the new personalized cards have legal standing and anyone questioning them could be contravening the Human Rights Act.

“We will not be canceling the old cards or requiring affected people to go through the process of getting a new card if they don’t want to, however, the old cards will not have the legitimacy of the new cards,” Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said.

They were being adopted because the government has recognized that some people cannot wear a mask due to an impairment, health conditions, a physical disability, or mental health reasons.

“These reasons aren’t always obvious or easy to explain and that’s left some New Zealanders who’re genuinely unable to wear a mask not being able to access the businesses and services they normally would,” Hipkins said.

“It’s also meant uncomfortable situations, with people needing to explain private health information to strangers when they’re trying to do basic tasks like shopping. We’ve worked hard to find a solution which avoids this.”

11102021 PHOTO: ROBERT KITCHIN/STUFF
L-R:
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Covid Response Minister Chris Hipkins, and Director General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield deliver the post cabinet decisions at the 4pm Covid update at Parliament.

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins does not want people to have to share private health information with strangers. Photo: POOL / STUFF / Robert Kitchin

It is also hoped the cards will give businesses certainty, Hipkins said.

“Sadly, in attempting to verify whether people are genuinely exempt, workers – especially those in retail settings such as supermarkets – have experienced escalating and unsafe behavior from some customers.”

Minister for Disability Issues Carmel Sepuloni said that from the end of May, people would be able to apply for a card through the Ministry of Health website and it would be issued to them digitally or by post.

An 0800 call-free number will be available, and it will also cater to those who need an interpreter or translation services when requesting their card.

“It’s important we all understand that for some people wearing a face mask is difficult. This includes people with physical, intellectual, or mental health impairments, and people (such as some victims of violent crime) who have experienced past trauma,” Sepuloni said.

“Those people should still have the same right as others to access goods and services.”

She thanked organizations such as Blind Citizens New Zealand, the Disabled Persons Assembly, Deaf Aotearoa, and other non-government groups who have managed the mask exemption process until now.

– RNZ

Covid-19

Covid-19 update: 8544 new cases, 39 further deaths linked to virus

Published

3 years ago

June 19, 2023

News Staff

There were 8544 new cases of Covid-19 reported in Aotearoa in the week to midnight on Sunday, and a further 39 deaths attributed to the virus.

The total number of deaths attributed to the virus in New Zealand is now 3077.

In addition, there were 246 cases in hospital at midnight on Sunday with six in intensive care.

The seven-day rolling average of cases was 1217.

Last week, 9883 new Covid-19 cases were reported and a further 37 deaths were attributed to the virus.

Source: RNZ

Covid-19

Dr Jonathan Howard: why US doctors spread Covid disinformation

Published

3 years ago

May 21, 2023

News Staff

An American doctor believes more than 800,000 Americans would be alive today, if the US had taken New Zealand’s Covid approach.

Jonathan Howard, who is the chief of neurology at Bellevue Hospital in New York, said he was angry that influential health professionals minimised the seriousness of the virus.

“We want them infected,” was the call of then presidential science adviser Paul Alexander.

It’s also the title of Howard’s new book, which tells the story of how some medical and public health professionals came to become anti-vaccine and pro herd immunity.

He told Kim Hill on Saturday Morning there was a deluge of mis-information from prominent US doctors, some of whom wanted to actually spread the virus.

“Famous doctors from our top universities went on television and told people that Covid was just going away, that it was just the flu, that young people under the age of 65 have essentially no risk,” he said.

“And not only were there not attempts to limit the virus, these were loud influential voices who wanted to spread it.

“You can read quotes from our former Covid advisor, Donald Trump’s former Covid advisor, celebrating rising cases, saying this is a good thing when cases rise, which is shocking and astonishing.”

While Howard said there were obvious differences between the two countries, many lives could have been saved if the US had taken a similar approach to New Zealand.

“If we had limited infections until we had vaccinated the vast majority of our population, we would have potentially had hundreds of thousands of people still alive today, there’s no question about that.”

However, our zero-Covid strategy wasn’t without its critics, with Stanford professor Jay Bhattacharya writing that it had “cost New Zealand dearly”.

“I think that the fact that most of your grandparents are still alive means that zero Covid did not cost you dearly,” Howard said in response.

“I don’t discount that, there were real costs of the lockdowns, I don’t know anyone who argues otherwise and I want to be very clear that I was protected from those costs, meaning I am very fortunate to be employed, I worked throughout the pandemic, I was never lonely, I don’t have my own business.”

But Howard said he didn’t think that the alternative – letting the virus spread freely – would have yielded a better outcome.

He said that when forklifts were needed to move bodies into giant refrigerated trucks in New York, it was fantasy to imagine the city could have operated as normal during the pandemic.

“You talk about deferred healthcare – every single healthcare worker was working with Covid patients, our hospitals were overflowing,” he said.

“So when I hear people lament they missed cancer screenings, who would have done those screenings? Would elderly patients have left their house to go to crowded waiting rooms to get a mammogram for example? I don’t think so.

“I think that the fantasy is that things could have just been normal if only if it hadn’t been for overly cautious politicians.”

By comparison, New Zealand did well, Howard said.

“I look at the numbers, I look at your death rate with great jealousy.” he said.

“And I think for long periods of time your economy was more open than ours was because we had to keep locking down, just because there were overwhelming outbreaks of the virus.”

Howard said the fact many older New Zealanders were still alive compared with the US statistics, showed the success of this country’s Covid strategy.

Source RNZ