Clark DavidHon Dr DAVID CLARK (Minister of Health): This is a Government with a plan that is well prepared and has been operating off that plan since 6 January in the face of the global outbreak of COVID-19. We have outstanding health professionals in this country. We have invested in the last two Budgets record amounts in health such that we now have an $18 billion health budget but of course more resources will be needed specifically for this fight.I do want to acknowledge the leadership of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance in making it clear right from the very start that financial resources would not be a constraint for health in this fight. Right from the start we have reallocated resources and now we have a dedicated $500 million package available to health immediately with $235 million of that already allocated to make sure that the public health of New Zealanders is put first to make sure our people are kept safe and to make sure that we can follow the World Health Organization advice that we focus on testing tracing and self-isolation. That approach thus far has served us well. We have kept COVID-19 at bay as well as any country we might like to compare ourselves to around the world.There is no room for complacency. We need to continue to take decisive action. It has served us well so far. We moved before other countries on putting restrictions in place for people coming from Iran. We moved before Australia on putting restrictions in place around South Korea and North Italy and we moved before most of the world to put in place restrictions around all international travel except for the obvious case of our neighbours in the Pacific that we have a particular duty of care for. New Zealand has moved swiftly and I want to thank our health professionals who are using this time as we speak to make sure that our health system is as well prepared as it possibly can be for this global epidemic.Today I am calling on all New Zealanders to unite in the fight against COVID-19. Together we can get through this. This will involve all of us taking the steps that we can take to make sure that we're keeping our loved ones safe to make sure that we're looking out for the most vulnerable in our communities. It means simple things like making sure we do not go out when we're not well. It means observing social distancing where otherwise we might want to give the hongi or the handshake. It means washing our hands frequently to ensure that we're observing the best hygiene practices and coughing and sneezing into our elbows. These are simple things but they will make a huge difference for New Zealanders as we unite to fight COVID-19.Our strong response in health is a part of our strong economic response. We know that keeping our people safe will help to protect our economy and that is why at the very start we have gone hard and gone early to keep New Zealanders safe. We know that we will see more cases of COVID-19 in New Zealand so we are continuing to plan for that reality.I want to speak briefly to a couple of the items in the package that was announced yesterday the $500 million set aside as a dedicated initial health package: $40 million immediately into public health with a strong emphasis on contact tracing. That nearly doubles the current annual spend on public health and is so important for those vital services to contain COVID-19. Also $50 million more will go into primary care including funding for community-based assessment centres equipment and logistics.Of course also today the Hon Julie Anne Genter and I announced an early start to the flu vaccination campaign bringing it forward from its usual April start to ensure that our elderly and our most vulnerable and those who care at the front line our healthcare workers are protected from the start of this—to make sure that before the flu season more people can be protected. We have 30 percent more flu vaccine than our record season last year. This is again because we have acted early. It will help to keep New Zealanders safe and reduce the demands on our hospitals in the peak flu season.This is a Government that's prepared that has a plan but we are all going to need to unite as a country to together fight COVID-19.