New Zealanders will need to make sure they’re following the Ministry of Health’s Covid-19 advice if they want any chance at preventing an uncontrolled outbreak, according to a virus expert.
Dr David Welch's warning comes after three returnees, who had finished their time in managed isolation at the Pullman Hotel, tested positive for the South African strain of the virus this week.
Welch, from the University of Auckland, says compared to the original virus, this South African variant as well as the Brazilian and United Kingdom variants are more easily spread.
“When this variant is concerned. When it encounters a cell, it’s got a higher chance now of infecting it than before.”
When it comes to trying to prevent community transmission of the South African Covid-19 variant, Welch urges Kiwis to comply with the Ministry of Health's Covid-19 guidelines.
Social distancing, contact tracing and other health measures “should do the job and so far have been doing the job” as long as they are upheld, he says.
"If there is some undetected outbreak simmering along somewhere, we would expect it to move more quickly than previous outbreaks. And that's what we have to be worried about".
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