Coronavirus: New Zealand likely to follow Taiwan in advising cancellation of crowded gatherings

Public events that are held indoors or attract tightly-packed crowds may be cancelled under incoming advice from the Government. 

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, in a Q+A interview on Sunday, that officials were looking at tailored criteria for events that may need to be cancelled, such as whether people would be in close proximity to one another.

"We're going to follow, pretty closely, the Taiwanese model. They worked up a framework for mass gatherings that's been quite successful," she said. 

New Zealand has previously looked to other countries who have a handle on Covid-19. Border measures in Israel were an example to the Government when planning travel restrictions announced Saturday. 

Taiwan has counted 53 cases of Covid-19, and one death. Its public health response has been held as an example for how to control the virus. 

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Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Centre issued guidelines for large public gatherings last week, in hope of avoiding widespread community transmission of Covid-19.

It advises that organisers of large gatherings consider a series of risks before deciding whether the event should go ahead. 

The risk of transmission increases with events that cannot not assess the coronavirus exposure of attendees, including confirming their travel history or screening them for symptoms, the advice says. 

Air ventilation was another consideration. Indoor venues with poor airflow posed a particular risk, whereas outdoor venues were considered safer. 

Events where attendees are close together and are moving around a venue were also advised as a risk. 

Such events should be cancelled, according to the advice. 

On Sunday, Ardern said that events that were not ticketed posed a concern as it would be difficult to track and trace attendees if a Covid-19 case is confirmed.

Many events have already been cancelled due to concerns about Covid-19 transmission. On Sunday, organisers of Warbirds Over Wanaka pulled the pin on the biennual airshow. 

Both the Pasifika festival in Auckland, and the March 15 terror attack memorial were cancelled over the weekend.

The New Zealand Festival of the Arts in Wellington has been canned on its final day and the city's mayor, Andy Foster, has confirmed that he may pre-empt government measures by stopping CubaDupa and Homegrown. 

The crowds at Homegrown can be expected to be tightly-packed, and CubaDupa is an unticketed event.