scholarly journals Genomic epidemiology reveals transmission patterns and dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in Aotearoa New Zealand

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jemma L Geoghegan ◽  
Xiaoyun Ren ◽  
Matthew Storey ◽  
James Hadfield ◽  
Lauren Jelley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Epidemiological Data ◽  
Genomic Diversity ◽  
Reproductive Number ◽  
Genomic Epidemiology ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Community Transmission ◽  
Health And Disease

New Zealand, a geographically remote Pacific island with easily sealable borders, implemented a nation-wide lockdown of all non-essential services to curb the spread of COVID-19. New Zealand experienced 102 days without community transmission before a new outbreak in August 2020. Here, we generated 649 SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences from infected patients in New Zealand with samples collected from the 'first wave' between 26 February and 22 May 2020, representing 56% of all confirmed cases in this time period. Despite its remoteness, the viruses imported into New Zealand represented nearly all of the genomic diversity sequenced from the global virus population. The proportion of D614G variants in the virus spike protein increased over time due to an increase in their importation frequency, rather than selection within New Zealand. These data also helped to quantify the effectiveness of public health interventions. For example, the effective reproductive number, Re, of New Zealand's largest cluster decreased from 7 to 0.2 within the first week of lockdown. Similarly, only 19% of virus introductions into New Zealand resulted in a transmission lineage of more than one additional case. Most of the cases that resulted in a transmission lineage originated from North America, rather than from Asia where the virus first emerged or from the nearest geographical neighbour, Australia. Genomic data also helped link more infections to a major transmission cluster than through epidemiological data alone, providing probable sources of infections for cases in which the source was unclear. Overall, these results demonstrate the utility of genomic pathogen surveillance to inform public health and disease mitigation.

scholarly journals Genomic epidemiology reveals transmission patterns and dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in Aotearoa New Zealand

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jemma L. Geoghegan ◽  
Xiaoyun Ren ◽  
Matthew Storey ◽  
James Hadfield ◽  
Lauren Jelley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Health Interventions ◽  
Genomic Diversity ◽  
Reproductive Number ◽  
Genomic Epidemiology ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Essential Services ◽  
Health And Disease

AbstractNew Zealand, a geographically remote Pacific island with easily sealable borders, implemented a nationwide ‘lockdown’ of all non-essential services to curb the spread of COVID-19. Here, we generate 649 SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences from infected patients in New Zealand with samples collected during the ‘first wave’, representing 56% of all confirmed cases in this time period. Despite its remoteness, the viruses imported into New Zealand represented nearly all of the genomic diversity sequenced from the global virus population. These data helped to quantify the effectiveness of public health interventions. For example, the effective reproductive number, Re of New Zealand’s largest cluster decreased from 7 to 0.2 within the first week of lockdown. Similarly, only 19% of virus introductions into New Zealand resulted in ongoing transmission of more than one additional case. Overall, these results demonstrate the utility of genomic pathogen surveillance to inform public health and disease mitigation.

The Epidemiology of Māori Suicide in Aotearoa/New Zealand

2000 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Nicole M. Coupe
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Suicide Rate ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
Epidemiological Data ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Major Public Health Problem ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand

AbstractSuicide is a Māori Public Health Issue. Suicide rates in Aotearoa/New Zealand are amongst the highest in OECD countries in the 15-24 year age group and second only to Hungary in other age groups (WHO, 1996; Disley & Coggan, 1996). Suicide is the leading cause of death for young people under the age of 25 years in Aotearoa/New Zealand and a major public health problem (Coggan, 1997). Approximatel, 540 New Zealanders kill themselves each year (Rose, Hatcher, & Koelmeyer, 1999). The total Māori suicide rate (per 100 000) increased to 17.5 in 1997, compared to non-Māori (13.1), and the Māori youth suicide rate (33.9) far exceeded the equivalent non-Māori rate (24.3), reflecting the disparity between Māori and non-Māori (Ministry of Health, 1997). This paper aims to present epidemiological data on Māori suicide and then use the existing literature to discuss possible reasons for the high Māori rate.

Locking down behavioural compliance: The role of emotion and emotion regulation in breaches of COVID-19 mitigation measures in Aotearoa New Zealand

2021 ◽  
pp. 135910532110299
Author(s):  
Terise Broodryk ◽  
Kealagh Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Health Behaviours ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
High Knowledge ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Insight Into

Although anxiety and worry can motivate engagement with COVID-19 preventative behaviours, people may cognitively reframe these unpleasant emotions, restoring wellbeing at the cost of public health behaviours. New Zealand young adults ( n = 278) experiencing nationwide COVID-19 lockdown reported their worry, anxiety, reappraisal and lockdown compliance. Despite high knowledge of lockdown policies, 92.5% of participants reported one or more policy breaches ( M  = 2.74, SD = 1.86). Counter to predictions, no relationships were found between anxiety or worry with reappraisal or lockdown breaches. Findings highlight the importance of targeting young adults in promoting lockdown compliance and offer further insight into the role of emotion during a pandemic.

Health(y) education: A critical analysis of the role of public health regulation in and on tertiary education in Aotearoa New Zealand

2021 ◽  
pp. 147821032199501
Author(s):  
Susan Shaw ◽  
Keith Tudor
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Educational Design ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Public Health Regulation

This article offers a critical analysis of the role of public health regulation on tertiary education in Aotearoa New Zealand and, specifically, the requirements and processes of Responsible Authorities under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act for the accreditation and monitoring of educational institutions and their curricula (degrees, courses of studies, or programmes). It identifies and discusses a number of issues concerned with the requirements of such accreditation and monitoring, including, administrative requirements and costs, structural requirements, and the implications for educational design. Concerns with the processes of these procedures, namely the lack of educational expertise on the part of the Responsible Authorities, and certain manifested power dynamics are also highlighted. Finally, the article draws conclusions for changing policy and practice.

Gambling issues for Tongan people in Auckland, Aotearoa-New Zealand

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sione Tu'itahi ◽  
Yvette Guttenbeil-Po'uhila ◽  
Jennifer Hand ◽  
Tin Htay
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Public Health Service ◽  
Research Progress ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Regional Public Health ◽  
Future Plans

This paper focuses on a research project on gambling issues within the Tongan community in Auckland, New Zealand that was conducted by the Auckland Regional Public Health Service (ARPHS). It outlines the background and rationale for the research, progress as of the time of writing, preliminary findings, and future plans.

scholarly journals Probability of elimination for COVID-19 in Aotearoa New Zealand

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachelle N Binny ◽  
Shaun C Hendy ◽  
Alex James ◽  
Audrey Lustig ◽  
Michael J Plank ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Alert System ◽  
Control Effectiveness ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
High Detection ◽  
Community Transmission ◽  
Pessimistic Scenario ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Clinical Cases

On 25th March 2020, New Zealand implemented stringent lockdown measures (Alert Level 4, in a four-level alert system) with the goal of eliminating community transmission of COVID-19. Once new cases are no longer detected over consecutive days, the probability of elimination is an important measure for informing decisions on when certain COVID-19 restrictions should be relaxed. Our model of COVID-19 spread in New Zealand estimates that after 2-3 weeks of no new reported cases, there is a 95% probability that COVID-19 has been eliminated. We assessed the sensitivity of this estimate to varying model parameters, in particular to different likelihoods of detection of clinical cases and different levels of control effectiveness. Under an optimistic scenario with high detection of clinical cases, a 95% probability of elimination is achieved after 10 consecutive days with no new reported cases, while under a more pessimistic scenario with low case detection it is achieved after 22 days.

scholarly journals Detection of the Novel SARS-CoV-2 European Lineage B.1.177 in Ontario, Canada

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Guthrie ◽  
Sarah Teatero ◽  
Sandra Zittermann ◽  
Yao Chen ◽  
Ashleigh Sullivan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Genomic Analysis ◽  
Epidemiological Data ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Disease Case ◽  
Novel Variants ◽  
Eastern Ontario ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Global And Local

ABSTRACTBackgroundTravel-related dissemination of SARS-CoV-2 continues to contribute to the global pandemic. A novel SARS-CoV-2 lineage (B.1.177) reportedly arose in Spain in the summer of 2020, with subsequent spread across Europe linked to travel by infected individuals. Surveillance and monitoring through the use of whole genome sequencing (WGS) offers insights into the global and local movement of pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2 and can detect introductions of novel variants.MethodsWe analyzed the genomes of SARS-CoV-2 sequenced for surveillance purposes from specimens received by Public Health Ontario (Sept 6 – Oct 10, 2020), collected from individuals in eastern Ontario. Taxonomic lineages were identified using pangolin (v2.08) and phylogenetic analysis incorporated publicly available genomes covering the same time period as the study sample. Epidemiological data collected from laboratory requisitions and standard reportable disease case investigation was integrated into the analysis.ResultsGenomic surveillance identified a COVID-19 case with SARS-CoV-2 lineage B.1.177 from an individual in eastern Ontario in late September, 2020. The individual had recently returned from Europe. Genomic analysis with publicly available data indicate the most closely related genomes to this specimen were from Southern Europe. Genomic surveillance did not identify further cases with this lineage.ConclusionsGenomic surveillance allowed for early detection of a novel SARS-CoV-2 lineage in Ontario which was deemed to be travel related. This type of genomic-based surveillance is a key tool to measure the effectiveness of public health measures such as mandatory self-isolation for returned travellers, aimed at preventing onward transmission of newly introduced lineages of SARS-CoV-2.

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