NZ extends ban on China arrivals
New Zealand has extended for eight days a ban on arrivals from mainland China, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday, carrying into its fourth week an attempt to block contact with the coronavirus. Fears mounted that the outbreak would grow right into a pandemic with disruptive and deadly consequences for the rest of the world following sharp rises in infections in Iran, Italy and South Korea.
But New Zealand has no plans for the present time to widen the ban abroad, Ardern told a news conference, adding, "We continue steadily to concentrate on the epicenter of outbreak". Ardern added that it was highly likely the virus would eventually get to New Zealand, though it does not have any confirmed infections. Finance Minister Grant Robertson said the federal government would step in to aid businesses hit by the spread of the virus, when there is an extended lasting shock to the economy or a worldwide monetary recession, but he didn't expect one right now.
"If either of these scenarios play out it will be important for the federal government to play a role to purchase the economy to aid New Zealanders and Kiwi businesses," he added. New Zealand's exports to major trading partner China took a significant hit, with everything from timber to meat and fruit facing delays and cancellations.
By Sunday, the epidemic had killed 2,592 persons with 77,150 infections on the mainland. Australia, which also has a travel ban on foreigners arriving directly from China, said its citizens should now "exercise a higher degree of caution" if planing a trip to South Korea or Japan.
"Most of these developments far away are cause for concern," Brendan Murphy, Australia's Chief Medical Officer, told reporters in Canberra, referring to the infections in South Korea, Japan and, recently, in northern Italy and deaths in Iran.
