Infectious Thoughts

How to strengthen the post-isolation Covid rules

Siouxsie Wiles • Sep 21, 2020

• coronavirus,
• COVID-19,
• isolation,
• quarantine,
• testing

Over the weekend, the Ministry of Health reported a case of Covid-19 in Auckland that is not related to the current Auckland cluster. Before we start to panic, here’s how I think the case happened and how we can strengthen our current border controls. The new Covid-19 case is someone who returned to New Zealand from India on August 27. Read More

How the PCR test works and why it’s such a critical weapon against Covid-19

Siouxsie Wiles • Sep 21, 2020

• coronavirus,
• COVID-19,
• covid-19 testing,
• pcr testing

I’ve been asked by several people in recent days whether there is any truth to a video about the Covid-19 PCR test that is currently doing the rounds on social media. I’m not linking to it, because it is chock full of false information; the fewer people who see it the better. It is by a medical doctor who talks … Read More

Now let’s flatten the infodemic curve

Siouxsie Wiles • Sep 08, 2020

• coronavirus,
• COVID-19,
• disinformation,
• misinformation,
• Pandemic

It’s likely you’re being exposed to masses of Covid information on a daily basis, and not all of it will be reliable. Here are some tips for telling the difference, and stopping the spread. Thanks to Covid-19, most of us have a new word in our vocabulary. Epidemiology: the branch of medical science that deals with the who, what, when, … Read More

What is the Covid-19 ‘triangle’?

Siouxsie Wiles • Aug 31, 2020

• coronavirus,
• COVID-19,
• Pandemic

Since this pandemic started, I’ve been getting lots of messages from people and hearing an awful lot of pundits who sum up Covid-19 as a simple case of virus vs person, with a binary outcome: the infected person either lives or dies. If only it were that simple, but there’s more to it than just the microbe against its unfortunate … Read More

Why Covid elimination remains the best game-plan for NZ

Siouxsie Wiles • Aug 25, 2020

• coronavirus,
• COVID-19,
• elimination,
• lockdown,
• suppression

Here in Aotearoa, we’re playing Covid-19 in “elimination” mode. Some countries are trying “suppression” mode, while others are running with what seems like “survival-of-the-fittest/wealthiest” mode. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been getting messages from people who don’t think our elimination game-plan is going to work. Some of them point to the fact we are currently experiencing an outbreak. Others … Read More

What does a robust Covid response look like for New Zealand?

Siouxsie Wiles • Aug 23, 2020

• border,
• COVID-19,
• ESR,
• quarantine,
• sewage,
• testing

Because we don’t have widespread community transmission of Covid-19 in New Zealand, our response managing our border and responding to any outbreaks will also help the rest of the world understand more about Covid-19. Let me explain how, and what I think a robust Covid-19 response looks like at least in the short term. Controls at the border are all … Read More

They say, ‘learn to live with Covid-19’. Here’s what I say back

Siouxsie Wiles • Aug 18, 2020

• coronavirus,
• COVID-19,
• plan b

Around the world, different countries are taking different approaches to dealing with the global pandemic. Here in Aotearoa, our government listened to the advice of the overwhelming majority of its medical experts and scientists and settled on an elimination strategy, which we’ll call Plan A. But a vocal minority has been calling for us to take a … Read More

Why we’re adding masks to our Covid-19 toolkit

Siouxsie Wiles • Aug 17, 2020

• coronavirus,
• COVID-19,
• masks

Lots of people might be wondering why we’re now being asked to wear face masks when we didn’t use them the first time we were stamping out Covid-19 in Aotearoa New Zealand. Back in April I wrote about how even the experts couldn’t agree whether masks should be worn by everyone. Some of that disagreement was … Read More

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How genome sequencing could crack the case of the NZ Covid comeback

Siouxsie Wiles • Aug 13, 2020

• coronavirus,
• COVID-19,
• genome sequencing,
• Pandemic

The novel coronavirus mutates as it travels between people and around the world. By sequencing the genome, we can try to work out which case is linked with another. As Aotearoa confronted its first cases of Covid-19 community transmission in more than 100 days, the director general of health, Ashley Bloomfield, raised genome sequencing – something which “may help us … Read More

Don’t panic. We can do this. Together

Siouxsie Wiles • Aug 12, 2020

• Auckland,
• coronavirus,
• COVID-19,
• masks,
• Pandemic

Aotearoa surpassed 100 days without a case of community transmission of Covid-19. Last night that virus-free streak ended and we’re moving back up the alert levels.  For months now, we’ve been intercepting cases of Covid-19 at the border. But just as has happened in many other countries, somehow the sneaky bastard has got in. At a late press conference last … Read More