Clark strengthens contact tracing oversight

Thursday, 30 April 2020

Contact tracing not the reason for lockdown extension, says Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

Health Minister David Clark has created a new committee responsible for overseeing contact tracing in New Zealand.

The Contact Tracing Assurance Committee (CTAC) will help strengthen oversight of contact tracing.

'This new committee will advise me on how the Ministry is making further improvements to the tracing system,' Clark said.

Contact tracing is a critical part of the Government's response to Covid-19. Each time a new case is identified, close contacts of that person are traced and told to get tested and isolate. This helps to stop the virus spreading further.

The Ministry's contact tracing abilities were criticised in a report by Ayesha Verrall, who found that at the beginning of the outbreak it was not capable of swiftly tracing an adequate number of cases.

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Her report made a number of recommendations that the Government and Health Ministry have moved to implement with director-general of health Ashley Bloomfield saying New Zealand would have a 'gold standard' contact tracing ability.

Minister of Health David Clark has announced a new contact tracing committee

The committee would be chaired by Sir Brian Roche and include Dr Philip Hill, Warren Moetara, Dr Marion Poore and Liz Read as members.

'I am delighted with these appointments. The members will be well placed to advise the Government on the appropriateness of contact tracing capability in New Zealand. It's a well-balanced committee with outstanding skills and experience,' Clark said.

'We've all recognised the ongoing efforts of the Ministry of Health and public health units in ramping up the on the ground response to contact tracing during the outbreak, such as standing up the National Close Contact Service and bringing in hundreds of additional staff to track and trace cases and contacts,' Clark said.

Sir Brian Roche is the former Chair of the Ministerial Advisory Group for Health and a member of the Health and Disability System Review. He is currently the chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency and has served as Chief Executive of New Zealand Post Group and PricewaterhouseCoopers New Zealand.

'The establishment of this committee is another step to ensure we have a gold standard response to any future surge of COVID-19 cases,' Clark said.

“We recognised early that contact tracing would be a key line of defence in the battle against COVID-19. It is vital to identifying the source of any cases, containing them and preventing further spread'.