Niue Emergency Response plan to Coronavirus issued
Cabinet has approved the Niue Emergency Response plan to Coronavirus disease 2020 (Covid-19).
Issued this afternoon, the Secretary to Government Peleni Talagi stated the Niue Disaster Council is activated and will be coordinating the efforts with the Health Department on Covid-19.
The aim of this Plan is to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the health, social and economic status of Niue population. It is based on the three Rs which are Ready, Response and Recovery.
| STAGES | CODE | PHASE |
| READY (Potential Threat) | BLUE | PREPARATION AND READINESS (Keep it Out and Delay entry of disease) |
| RESPONSE (Imminent Threat) | YELLOW | ALERT (Delay widespread disease transmission) |
| (Immediate Threat) | RED | ACTIVATION (Mitigate impact of the disease) |
| RECOVERY | POST-EVENT (Recovery) |
“We are now at code blue. This is the Ready stage which means we are preparing and getting things ready to keep it out and delay entry of the disease. We already have border restrictions in place, and we review our position regularly.” said Peleni Talagi
The Niue National Disaster Council (NDC) is chaired by the Secretary to Government.
The Public Emergency Act 1979 authorizes the Premier and Cabinet to declare a State of Emergency, and Cabinet to determine the laws to take necessary action during a Pandemic.
COVID-19 was listed as a transmissible notifiable condition and dangerous condition under the Public Health Act 1965 in February 2020.
The Act enables health or police officials to segregate a person when it is suspected that the person is potentially infected with COVID-19. Certain places can also be declared as restricted places.
Due to the limited capacity to adequately quarantine close contacts and suspected cases, quarantine measures will rely on voluntary compliance rather than legal enforcement wherever possible.
Internationally, the International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005 purpose and scope is “to prevent, protect against, control and provide a public health response to the international spread of disease in ways that are commensurate with and restricted to public health risks, and which avoid unnecessary interference with international traffic and trade.”
The IHR (2005) and the Public Health Act 1965 authorise officials to control disease spread at borders, trace people who are infected or suspected to have a notifiable disease.
The Immigration Act 2011 also provides powers to control movement of persons at Niue’s borders.
