They did the same thing for measles, it's SOP for a place where almost everyone there is medically compromised somehow

old3eyes: My sister in law who has been in the US for the past year came home about 10 days ago. Phoned her medical center to get her 6 months of her prescription drugs to take back with her in a months time was told they wouldn't let her into the center as she hadn't been in NZ for 14 days. She ordered and paid for them online and they dressed in gowns and maskes brought the prescription out to her car.

Slightly OT: are you allowed to get 6 months of prescriptions dispensed in one hit if you are going overseas? For some reason I thought the maximum a doctor could prescribe was 3 months and that going overseas for longer than 3 months does not qualify for NZ subsidised prescription drugs?

Anyone have any experience of this as I am going overseas for 6 months in May and take a daily prescription drug.

Cheers

steve2222:

 

old3eyes: My sister in law who has been in the US for the past year came home about 10 days ago. Phoned her medical center to get her 6 months of her prescription drugs to take back with her in a months time was told they wouldn't let her into the center as she hadn't been in NZ for 14 days. She ordered and paid for them online and they dressed in gowns and maskes brought the prescription out to her car.

 

 

 

Slightly OT: are you allowed to get 6 months of prescriptions dispensed in one hit if you are going overseas? For some reason I thought the maximum a doctor could prescribe was 3 months and that going overseas for longer than 3 months does not qualify for NZ subsidised prescription drugs?

 

Anyone have any experience of this as I am going overseas for 6 months in May and take a daily prescription drug.

 

Cheers

 

Only for the pill,

NZ regs limit pharmacies to only supply a maximum of 3 months worth of prescription meds at once

"Regulations dictate that a maximum of 3 months medication can be prescribed at one time. Contraception medication is an exception to this rule, where 6 months medication may be prescribed. A prescription is valid for 3 months from the date of issue. For controlled drugs a prescription may only be issued for a maximum of one month’s supply"

https://www.wadestownmedicalpractice.co.nz/repeat-prescriptions

There are also regulations about how much prescription drugs may be imported for personal use by a visitor to some countries - ie the US limits it to 3 months supply (or less - with restricted meds).  So you need to check out rules where you're going.

You need to have a letter from your GP explaining your prescription needs, so that you can get meds ASAP if needed.  Baggage gets stolen or lost, people leave their meds behind in hotel bathrooms etc.

steve2222:

Slightly OT: are you allowed to get 6 months of prescriptions dispensed in one hit if you are going overseas? For some reason I thought the maximum a doctor could prescribe was 3 months and that going overseas for longer than 3 months does not qualify for NZ subsidised prescription drugs?

Anyone have any experience of this as I am going overseas for 6 months in May and take a daily prescription drug.

 

Cheers

Iran has apparently reported two cases - and two deaths.  Diagnosed post mortem.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/die-coronavirus-iran-fatalities-middle-east-200219171007605.html

PolicyGuy:

Some GPs will give a patient in this situation two three-month prescriptions dated a couple of days apart with instructions to take them to different pharmacies or the same pharmacy on different days

Or so I hear ;)

I thought that there was some kind of centralised system for oversight of prescribing which would catch that. Aimed not so much at GPs but at patients who go to multiple GPs to get opioid prescriptions.

There is but it's for drugs that require something called "special authorities" normal prescriptions (not e-prescriptions) don't typically end up anywhere centrally

Hrm. Still of the upper age brackets.

 

Two passengers with coronavirus from the Diamond Princess cruise ship have died, according to Japanese news reports.

 

They were an 87-year-old man and 84-year-old woman, both Japanese, the public broadcaster NHK reported, citing government sources.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12310352 

Bit baity though. It later says they had underlaying issues and were prematurely removed..

Today so far the Christchurch Chinese Consulate Visa office has had about 5 vehicles in 2 hours!

I've seen it busier on a Christmas Day when they used to open on it!

Is any airline still flying to China from New Zealand?

msukiwi:

 

Today so far the Christchurch Chinese Consulate Visa office has had about 5 vehicles in 2 hours!

 

I've seen it busier on a Christmas Day when they used to open on it!

 

Is any airline still flying to China from New Zealand?

 

Yes - there are still a few flights between NZ and Mainland China.

Flightradar tweeted a few days ago that domestic flights in China have reduced by 80%.

IIRC Bloomberg were reporting that forecasts for global air travel are expected to show a decline of 0.5% in passengers numbers, vs earlier projected growth of 4.5%.  That would be based on known information then - who knows what the situation will be tomorrow/next week/in 3 months time?

I guess there's not much demand for visas to China when there's an official advisory not to go unless essential, and travel insurers won't offer any cover.

msukiwi:

 

Today so far the Christchurch Chinese Consulate Visa office has had about 5 vehicles in 2 hours!

 

I've seen it busier on a Christmas Day when they used to open on it!

 

Is any airline still flying to China from New Zealand?

 

According to Auckland Airport,

China Southern, China Eastern and Air China still flying reduced services,  in total between eight and 11 flights a week

Sigh, It looks like China have changed their reporting criteria (again)

https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200220-sitrep-31-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=dfd11d24_2

"China has revised their guidance on case classification for COVID-19, removing the classification of “clinically diagnosed” previously used for Hubei province, and retaining only “suspected” and “confirmed” for all areas, the latter requiring laboratory confirmation. Some previously reported “clinically diagnosed” cases are thus expected to be discarded over the coming days as laboratory testing is conducted and some are found to be COVID-19-negative"

This pretty much makes it impossible to understand what is going on with infection numbers, the figures tend to indicate a slowing, but with all the changes its really hard to get a handle on what is actually happening,  (and may simply indicate that the numbers are being manipulated anyway)

wellygary:

 

Sigh, It looks like China have changed their reporting criteria (again)

 

Yes.  That's why reported "new" cases were very low from Hubei region yesterday - they removed previously clinically diagnosed cases that had already been included in the tally.