Invasive group A streptococcal infection (iGAS) will become a "notifiable" disease on 1 October 2024, enhancing the health system's ability to monitor this severe illness and develop more effective interventions in the future.
On 29 July 2024, Cabinet approved adding invasive group A streptococcal infection (iGAS) to the list of notifiable infectious diseases under the Health Act 1956.
Making a disease notifiable means health practitioners and laboratories are required to inform a Medical Officer of Health of a confirmed or suspected case. It can help health authorities detect and respond to a sharp increase in disease and generate longer-term insights to inform more effective health interventions.
iGAS is a severe illness that almost always results in hospitalisation and can be fatal. Voluntary laboratory reporting to ESR suggests that iGAS case numbers were lower during the COVID-19 pandemic, but more recently have been trending upwards in many countries, including New Zealand.
The Ministry of Health considers many factors in deciding whether to add a disease to "notifiable" list. These include:
- severity of the disease
- how easily and quickly the disease can spread from person to person
- the quality and timeliness of existing data reporting about the disease
- the ability of the health system to intervene effectively based on notifications about the disease.
COVID-19 no longer classified "quarantinable"
In addition to making iGAS notifiable, Cabinet has now also removed COVID-19 from the list of quarantinable infectious diseases, as specified in schedule 1 of the Health Act.
Making a disease "quarantinable" gives Medical Officers of Health powers over crafts, such a ships and aircraft, entering New Zealand. We have now moved from an emergency response to COVID-19 to managing the disease as part of the health system's day-to-day work. Health authorities have not required a vessel to quarantine since 31 July 2022.
Removing COVID-19's quarantinable status will have no practical effect on how we manage the disease and bring us into line with the approach taken by other countries. To ensure we can continue to monitor and respond to COVID-19 effectively, the disease remains "notifiable".
We are also retaining "novel coronavirus capable of causing severe respiratory illness" as a quarantinable disease. Retaining this status means we will be better positioned to protect New Zealanders if a new coronavirus emerges that poses a significant new risk to people's health.
Changes to the schedule of notifiable and quarantinable diseases will come into effect on 1 October 2024.
