NZ - Powers expanded to fight swine flu

[FrenchieGirl]

Powers expanded to fight swine flu

Health officials can order people into quarantine after new regulations to combat swine flu were passed.

The virus was today added to the Health (Infectious and Notifiable Diseases) Regulations, created in 1966.

''This gives medical officers of health legal powers, if needed, to require people to isolate themselves at home and to exclude children and teachers from school if they have swine flu or are in close contact with someone with swine flu,'' Health Minister Tony Ryall said.

Confirmed cases in New Zealand today reached 17, up from 14 yesterday.

It comes as Warriors captain Steve Price has been stood down on advice from the NRL, following concerns State of Origin players may have been subjected to swine flu.

Price turned out for Queensland in the first State of Origin match against New South Wales last Wednesday.

The drama unfolded overnight when Queensland forward Ben Hannant and the NSW Origin team physio were confirmed to have contracted swine flu.

Maroons team doctor Roy Saunders notified both Brisbane and North Queensland to quarantine their Origin players for 72 hours.

The quarantine also included Cowboys coach Neil Henry, who was Mal Meninga's assistant, and fitness guru Billy Johnstone.

Warriors team spokesman Richard Becht confirmed today that Price, who played in Sunday's 10-18 loss to Cronulla Sharks in Sydney, had been stood down.

"It's probably a bit strong to say he's been quarantined," Becht said.

"On advice from the NRL, players involved in the Queensland and New South Wales State of Origin match have been told to stay away from their teams for a day or so."

A Canterbury man yesterday became the South Island's first confirmed case after returning from Los Angeles on Air New Zealand flight NZ5 on May 31.

His seven-year-old son today tested positive for the H1N1 virus as did a second passenger from the flight.

The third case confirmed today was a passenger from Air New Zealand flight NZ124, which arrived from Melbourne on June 5.

There are also 103 suspected cases, up from 92 yesterday, with 10 deemed ''probable''.

Mr Ryall said the medical officers' new powers did not extend to the closure of schools.

''(That) can only be invoked by the minister of health, or if an epidemic notice is in force.''

However, a n Auckland childcare centre shut its doors this week after a one-year-old at the centre tested positive on Friday, having recently returned from Melbourne.

Children and staff at Tama Ale Eleele A'oga Amata childcare centre have all tested negative for swine flu, but will keep themselves in isolation until Thursday.

Jenny Yule, managing director of in-home childcare provider Porse, said since the child was diagnosed the company had experienced a ''surge of phone calls'' from parents.

Health authorities have warned swine flu will continue to spread, mirroring Australia where confirmed cases today jumped to 1051, up from 876 on Friday.

Health Ministry director of public health Mark Jacobs told family doctors community transmission in New Zealand was inevitable.

''The recent rapid increase in cases in Australia in particular emphasises that community transmission in New Zealand is a matter of when rather than if,'' he wrote in the College of GPs newsletter, ePulse.

''In the event of sustained community transmission, hospitals already entering the seasonal influenza period would soon be overwhelmed, most people will need to be cared for at home supported by telephone triage, probably through Healthline.''

Canterbury Medical Officer of Health Dr Alistair Humphrey agreed with Dr Jacobs.

''Australia went from nothing to basically losing control of the outbreak in a week. That has happened in quite a few countries but it hasn't happened yet in New Zealand.

''By and large we've done a good job at keeping it at bay; we don't have thousands of cases all occurring at one go putting our health services and indeed our businesses under stress.''

As at 6pm yesterday the World Health Organisation reported 21,940 cases in 69 countries, with 125 deaths.

- NZPA

 

[kiwibird]

Re: NZ - Powers expanded to fight swine flu

If large numbers of people are in forced quarantine, how will they get their supplies etc? I do not think many people have prepared! It seems wrong that, at a time of economic hardship, voluntary organisations may be left to carry this burden.

 

[Sally Furniss]

Re: NZ - Powers expanded to fight swine flu

from 2006

Bird flu bill passed unanimously


http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3899040a7144,00.html

14 December 2006
By MARTIN KAY

A bill that gives the Government sweeping powers to suspend almost all laws to control a bird flu outbreak has passed with unanimous support - but the rules on triggering it have been tightened.


The Law Reform (Epidemic Preparedness) Bill and associated changes that amend other legislation is designed to allow authorities to contain the spread of any pandemic disease likely to disrupt essential government services or business activity. The law change was devised with a bird flu outbreak in mind. It grants sweeping powers - including the ability to ban public gatherings, requisition buildings, vehicles and medicines and allowing police to detain people for medical tests. The bill also allows the quarantine of people suspected of having bird flu or other pandemic diseases.


Less repressive measures include giving drivers extensions on their warrants of fitness in the event there are not enough fit mechanics and flexible welfare payments.


The bill is largely unchanged from its introduction, but Health Minister Pete Hodgson said the rules around triggering the provisions had been tightened. This followed submissions from the Law Commission and changes proposed by the select committee that considered the bill. Checks include parliamentary scrutiny of orders made under the law, including six-day parliamentary sessions to debate immediate orders to modify other legislation.

 

[Sally Furniss]

Re: NZ - Powers expanded to fight swine flu

Schools are evaluating overseas trips as swine flu continues to spread.

Seventeen cases of swine flu have been confirmed to date in New Zealand. Australia has more than 1000. Nearly 900 of those are in the state of Victoria.

Many of the Australian cases have been spread in schools through close contact.

Christchurch Boys High School principal Trevor McIntyre told Morning Report that schools are monitoring the situation closely.

Insurance policies for upcoming overseas trips are also being read with a keen eye.

New powers

In an effort to slow the spread of the virus in New Zealand, the Government has given medical officers of health powers to keep people away from work or school.

Health Minister Tony Ryall says these powers will slow the spread of swine flu.

The regulations took effect on Monday.

Mr Ryall told Morning Report that district health boards have plans in place to set up assessment centres if the virus spreads to a level similar to that seen in northern Melbourne.

Swine flu was recently added to the list of infectious and notifiable diseases in New Zealand.

Listen to more on Morning Report

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/stories/2009/06/09/1245b59db73a

 

[Sally Furniss]

Re: NZ - Powers expanded to fight swine flu

Forced quarantine for flu possible (Source: Reuters)

http://tvnz.co.nz/health-news/forced-quarantine-flu-possible-2772989/video

The Ministry of Health has been given new powers to put into quarantine anybody who might have come into contact with somebody who has H1N1 flu.

The Ministry has held a media conference in Auckland to detail moves it's taking to fight the H1N1 emergency.

This after the government introduced new regulations on Monday giving health authorities more power to cope with the emergency.

H1N1, or swine flu, became a notifiable disease several weeks ago, meaning every case has to be reported.
Now the Ministry of Health has been given new powers to call anybody who might have come into contact with somebody who has H1N1 flu to put them into isolation, even if that person doesn't feel sick.

Dr Mark Jacobs, Director of Public Health, says the changes made on Monday add non- seasonal influenza to a list of diseases under regulations under the Health Act.

He says that means that in the unlikely event the ministry needs to use legislative powers to deal with potential spread in community, it can require contacted cases to be put into isolation, and also require students and teachers not to go into school for a week if there have been cases in that school.

So far, in Australia - where the swine flu tally has passed 1200 -, Japan and the United States, the virus has spread most virulently in schools.

There are further powers the ministry can apply for to be able to close schools and businesses but it says it won't be applying for those unless H1N1 flu becomes a full blown pandemic.

Precautionary measure

Health Minister Tony Ryall says the new powers for public health officials to enforce quarantine on H1N1 sufferers are just a precautionary measure.

People have been fully co-operative so far but health officials said the new powers would give more authority to their public requests, Ryall told Radio New Zealand.

The new powers were just a precautionary step and "a back up to difficult cases", he said.

Overseas experience showed emergency departments and GP clinics were being overwhelmed with people showing up with symptoms, he said.

"Anything we can do to delay that from happening in our schools and communities means that we can keep the rest of our health services available to those in need."

In the case of a fully blown outbreak, community-based assessment centres would draw people away from hospitals and GPs if there was a widespread outbreak, he said.

Ryall said the medical officers' new powers did not extend to the closure of schools, which could only be invoked by the minister of health.

Jacobs told family doctors community transmission in New Zealand was inevitable.

"The recent rapid increase in cases in Australia in particular emphasises that community transmission in New Zealand is a matter of when rather than if," he wrote in the College of GPs newsletter, ePulse.

Cases confirmed, more feared

There are 17 confirmed H1N1 flu cases in New Zealand.

Sixteen students and two teachers at Gisborne Boys High were put into quarantine in a classroom on Tuesday morning.

Five of them are exhibiting mild flu-like symptoms after the group returned from Brisbane on Sunday. It's being treated as a suspected H1N1 flu incident.

A public health spokeswoman says the school moved quickly in isolating the students on Tuesday and calling in health authorities.

And New Zealand's swimmers have suffered a blow in their build-up to next month's world championships in Rome.

A Grand Prix meet in Melbourne next weekend has been cancelled due to the H1N1 flu outbreak.

A number of New Zealanders were due to compete in the meet which was to be their only warm-up event prior to the world championships.

http://tvnz.co.nz/health-news/forced-quarantine-flu-possible-2772989

 

[Sally Furniss]

Re: NZ - Powers expanded to fight swine flu

Isolation, fines for swine flu law breaches
4:00AM Wednesday Jun 10, 2009
By Martin Johnston

People who defy medical health officers' beefed-up swine-flu isolation powers risk being fined and forcibly detained.

The Government on Monday added swine flu to the list of notifiable diseases.

This allows people who have been in contact with patients who have swine flu to be compulsorily isolated at home, and pupils and teachers who are patients or contacts to be excluded from schools.

These measures are in addition to the general powers of medical officers of health under the Health Act 1956 to isolate people considered at risk of spreading swine flu.

A person who disobeys medical officers' orders faces a $500 fine, plus $50 for each further day of non-compliance.

But it is more likely the officer would invoke the power in section 79 (4) of the act to "detain him, by force if necessary".

Anyone who leaves their specified place of isolation is liable to be "arrested by any officer of the Ministry of Health or by any member of the staff of the hospital or other place of isolation or by any constable, without warrant" and taken to the place of isolation.

As well, medical officers of health gain much wider powers - such as restricting travel, closing businesses and banning meetings - if the Prime Minister issues an epidemic notice, the Minister of Health gives authority or a state of emergency is declared.

Then the penalty for disobeying a medical officer of health's directions rises to a maximum of six months' jail and a fine up to $4000.

The director of public health, Dr Mark Jacobs, said yesterday the Health Ministry's preference was voluntarily compliance and that was working well.

"If we had a problem with that, our fall-back wouldn't be to take them to court and fine them. It would be to enforce isolation, because the purpose of this is public health.

"Public health is not served by fining them."

The preference was to isolate people at home, or at hospital if necessary, he said.

Asked if police cells could be used, he said it was "unlikely but is in theory a possibility."

And he said it was unlikely the powers triggered by ministerial order or emergency declaration would be needed, even if swine flu - influenza, A (H1N1) - spread widely.

.....

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/health/news/article.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10577494

 

[Sally Furniss]

Re: NZ - Powers expanded to fight swine flu

Health officials brace for extra powers following pandemic notice
Fri, 12 Jun 2009 5:15a.m.

The World Health Organisation's declaration of a full-blown global influenza pandemic places the nation's regional health officials in the limelight.

New health regulations which took effect on April 29 added non-seasonal flu - such as A/H1N1 swine flu - to other quarantinable diseases such as avian influenza, cholera, plague and yellow fever.

And a ministerial authorisation, an epidemic notice issued under the Epidemic Preparedness Act 2006, or declaration of a state of emergency can give extra powers to regional medical officers of health.

These officials are public health specialists the director-general of health makes responsible for specific health districts.

According to Iris Reuvecamp, a senior associate at Buddle Findlay law firm, issue of epidemic notice for non-seasonal flu -- a quarantinable disease under the Health Act -- will mean health authorities can:

* Require people to submit to medical examination or testing at specified times and places;

* Require persons, places, buildings, ships, vehicles, aircraft, animals or things to be tested, isolated, quarantined or disinfected as they think fit;

* Restrict the movement of people and vehicles;

* Set up emergency hospitals;

* Restrict public gatherings;

* Close any premises, except for Parliament and private homes;

The Health Act also allows the officials to call on police to use reasonable force if they need that to carry out their duties.

The Epidemic Preparedness Act 2006 says that the prime minister may issue an epidemic notice if they are satisfied that the effects of an outbreak of a quarantinable disease are likely to significantly disrupt or to continue to disrupt essential government and business activity.

And while such a notice is in force, the Government has significant powers to make regulations which temporarily modify other statutes.

There are no appeal provisions specified in the Health Act for exercise of powers of the medical officers of health -- they can require people to undergo counselling and to refrain from carrying out specified activities, going to specified places, associating with specified persons or specified classes of persons, staying at a specified residence and accepting the supervision of a named person.

But more restrictive powers, such as detention or compulsory medical examination, are likely to only be exercised under a "health risk order" issued by a court, though a medical officer of health could issue an interim order for detention of up to 72 hours with immediate effect.

The regional health officials already have extensive powers: under section 79 of the Health Act, they can order a person suspected of spreading an infectious disease to be isolated, an order that can executed by force if necessary.

Where a person is suspected of suffering from non-seasonal influenza, they can be forced to provide bodily samples, and to be detained under surveillance doctors are satisfied that he or she is not contagious. Detention can be up to a maximum of 28 days, and may only be more than 14 days if the medical officer of health considers the person is still contagious.

There were three widespread influenza pandemics in the 20th century.

* The first, in 1918-1919, killed between 50 million and 100 million people. It is now known to have been caused by an H1N1 strain of the virus.

* The second in 1957 was caused by a strain called H2N2 and was known as Asian flu. It came in several waves of varying severity between 1957 and 1960.

* A third pandemic in 1968, called Hong Kong flu, occurred in waves and was caused by the H3N2 strain.

* Experts believe that the current strain of H1N1 swine flu may follow the same pattern and that the relatively mild symptoms now seen in most patients become more severe in future cases.

* A key concern is that it may mix with widespread Tamiflu-resistant forms of H1N1 seasonal flu.

* Because the swine flu is new, human immune systems will not immediately recognise the virus, and the proportion of the population falling ill is likely to be far higher than happens with seasonal flu, which hits up to 20 percent of the nation.

* Health officials say that every week they can delay widespread community transmission of the virus is another week they can avoid overloading medical staff already faced with an average 156,000 seasonal flu patients each winter.

* Tamiflu and another retroviral treatment, Relenza, are the main medical weapons to battle pandemic swine flu. The Government has emergency stocks of 1.25 million doses of Tamiflu, and has ordered 125,000 doses of Relenza - enough to reduce the symptoms in about a third of the population.

NZPA

http://www.3news.co.nz/News/Health-...rticleID/108256/Default.aspx?ArticleID=108256

 

[Sally Furniss]

Re: NZ - Powers expanded to fight swine flu

Ministry says no need for Key to trigger special epidemic powers
6:54PM Wednesday Jun 17, 2009

Health officials say they have no plans for Prime Minister John Key to issue an "epidemic notice" - a key legal step to trigger special powers for regional medical officers of health.

"The illness that this pandemic is causing is not severe enough to warrant the use of the powers that issuing the notice would permit," Fran McGrath, deputy director of public health told NZPA.
...

Under an epidemic notice, authorised by the prime minister, regional medical officers of health have the power to:

* Require people to submit to medical examination or testing at specified times and places;

* Require persons, places, buildings, ships, vehicles, aircraft, animals or things to be tested, isolated, quarantined or disinfected as they think fit;

* Restrict the movement of people and vehicles;

* Set up emergency hospitals;

* Restrict public gatherings;

* Close any premises, except for Parliament and private homes;

* Call on police to use reasonable force if they need that to carry out their duties.

Dr McGrath said the current priority was containment of the virus, which was estimated to have a "reproductive value" of 1.4, which meant that every two people who fell ill were expected to transmit the disease to three other people.

"Increased spread of the virus could overwhelm the health services during the already busy winter season," she said.

"While the virus in the main causes moderate illness in most people, there is an increased risk for some groups such as those with a chronic disease and pregnancy."

The country was still in a "containment phase", she said.

Containment involved both border management and stamping out clusters of the virus spread.

Doctors were telling arriving travellers that only people with flu-like symptoms within four days of overseas travel were now considered to be at risk of having the swine flu form of the A(H1N1) virus.

But as more cases were confirmed in the community the focus would shift to boosting the way care was provided in the community, Dr McGrath said.

Planning for this "manage it" phase provided for community-based health services to manage large numbers of people with influenza as well as maintain services for patients with other illnesses.

As much as 30 per cent of the population was expected to contract the swine flu, but the symptoms, which included fever, coughing, a sore throat and often diarrhoea, disappeared after about five days.

In this "manage it" phase, many people would be sent home to look after themselves - in the same way they would with seasonal flu.

They would be told to stay home for seven days after the start of symptoms or until they have been symptom-free for 24 hours - whichever was longer.

Health officials expected most ill New Zealanders would be able to nurse themselves at home, though an Australian expert has warned asthma and A(H1N1) flu were a potentially deadly mix.

Dr Matthew Peters, head of respiratory medicine at a Sydney Hospital, said chronic heart or lung disease and diabetes were common ailments that could dramatically escalate the risk posed by the virus.

"Around 40 per cent of admissions to hospital with swine flu-related illnesses in the US have been in people with asthma," he said.

Asked to what extent the ministry was looking to the two-week school holidays due to start on July 3 as a potential "firebreak" in reducing the rate of community transmission, Dr McGrath said the school holidays "may be very useful as a break".

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10579102