Coronavirus update:
Below is the information that I have received from the MOE and Ministry of Health with regards to the coronavirus outbreak in China. We are following the advice that is being given out by these NZ authorities and we are being updated as it goes.
Key messages:
The likelihood of this spreading to NZ is still very low.
This is a strain of the flu.
Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) guidance – Ministry of Health website.
Like the measles outbreak, those with compromised immune systems, the elderly and the very young are the most vulnerable to suffering serious effects from this flu.
Action to help reduce the general risk of infection:
- avoiding very close contact with people showing symptoms
- frequently washing hands
- avoiding close contact with sick, live farm animals or wild animals
- practicing cough etiquette (maintain distance, cover coughs and sneezes with disposable tissues or clothing, and wash hands).
We have no students who are coming to us from anywhere near the infected sites in China.
Our Director of International Students has been in contact with our international students, their families and agents and the NZ home stay families about where students are coming from, asking them to stay at home if there is any possibility that they have been in contact with someone who is infected, taking these general infection precautions and advising medical professionals immediately if there are any signs of the flu.
If you have a particular concerns, please contact Healthline at 0800 611 116 or your GP for medical advice. Healthline has translators and interpreters available 24/7 in 150 languages.
