Michael Baker | |
|---|---|
 Baker in 2021 | |
| Born | Michael George Baker |
| Citizenship | New Zealand |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | University of Otago University of Auckland |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Epidemiology |
| Institutions | University of Otago |
Michael George Baker MNZM is an epidemiologist with the University of Otago. [1] Baker is a member of the New Zealand Food Safety Authority's Academy and of the New Zealand Ministry of Health's Pandemic Influenza Technical Advisory Group (PITAG). [2] [3] [4]
Baker has an identical twin brother,David,who is a general practitioner in Sydney,Australia. The twins are the eldest of four children. They attended secondary school in Hamilton and medical school in Auckland. [5] Michael Baker studied at the University of Otago,where he graduated MB ChB and earned a Diploma in Public Health,and the University of Auckland where he obtained a Diploma in Obstetrics. [6]
He originally wanted to specialise in emergency medicine or psychiatry,but got a job in Wellington as a medical advisor for the Minister of Health. In that role he worked on the response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic,and helped to set up a needle exchange programme. [7]
He was appointed to the faculty at the University of Otago in 1997,rising to the rank of professor in the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago,Wellington in 2013. [6]
He has campaigned to reduce campylobacter contamination in chicken in New Zealand. [1]
In January 2020,Baker began to read reports about the COVID-19 outbreak in China,and he was asked to join the Ministry of Health's COVID-19 Technical Advisory Group. [7] In February 2020 he was advocating with colleagues at the University of Otago to 'stamp out' COVID-19 in New Zealand and keep it out,rather than trying to 'flatten the curve'. [7] The Government eventually introduced a countrywide lockdown.
In April 2020,Baker stated that New Zealand had the "most decisive and strongest lockdown in the world at the moment" and that it is the only Western country where the goal is to eliminate COVID-19. [8] Baker thinks we will look back on COVID-19 as "the most profound public health intervention in our history". [7]
In October 2021,Baker advocated a regional approach to countering the Delta variant outbreak in Auckland that began in August 2021. He argued that a regional approach would allow Auckland to pursue a suppression approach while the rest of the country could continue with an elimination strategy. [9]
In November 2021,Baker and several fellow University of Otago academics including Dr Lucy Telfar Barnard,Dr Jennifer Summers,and Lesley Gray criticised the Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) system's requirement that vaccinated travellers be tested as "inconsistent and arbitrary," asserting that they posed a lower risk of contracting COVID-19 than Aucklanders during the Delta variant. [10]
In December 2021,Baker expressed concerns that the Government's new COVID-19 Protection Framework ("traffic light system") in and abandonment of internal borders could lead to a rise in cases but added that the infection could be blunted by vaccination efforts and the warmer summer weather. He credited vaccination,contact tracing and the previous Alert Level 3 lockdown with helping to combat the spread of the virus in 2021. [11] In mid-December,Baker advocated that the Government delay its planned reopening of New Zealand's borders in January 2022 to counter the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant. He also stated that New Zealand was one of the few countries alongside Taiwan,China and some Australian states to have a "robust border quarantine system." [12]
In early January 2022,Baker questioned the effectiveness of the "traffic light system" in dealing with Omicron community outbreaks and has advocated localised lockdowns. He has also expressed support for the Government's moves to lower the waiting period between second vaccines doses and booster shots from six to four months and encouraged the vaccination of children. [13]
In February 2022,Baker expressed concerns that the Ministry of Health's daily COVID-19 reports underestimated infections within the community since many of the infected took several days to develop symptoms of COVID-19. He also credited the country's "traffic light settings" and contact tracing efforts with slowing the spread of COVID-19 in comparison to overseas. [14]
In early September 2022,Baker advocated scrapping the "traffic light system" in favour of moving the country towards a "more straightforward system." Baker's remarks accompanies reports that the Government was considering abandoning the "traffic light system" when it reviewed New Zealand's COVID-19 settings later in the month. [15]
In mid-October 2022,Baker advocated the reinstatement of a form of the alert level system after the country reported its first case of the Omicron subvariant BQ.1.1 on 13 October. [16]
In early November 2022,Baker advocated reinstating mask requirements for public transportation and flights to combat rising COVID-19 hospitalisation and death rates caused by the third wave of COVID-19 sweeping through New Zealand in 2022. [17]
On 10 April 2023,Baker urged the New Zealand Government to retain the few remaining COVID-19 restrictions including the mandatory seven-day isolation period for positive cases and mask wearing at hospitals. [18] In response to rising case numbers,hospitalisations and deaths reported on 17 April,Baker stated that New Zealand was experiencing its fourth wave of COVID-19 infections. Baker advocated encouraging people to get the new Covid vaccine booster,isolate if they are infected,and wear facemasks in poorly ventilated environments. [19]
In 2013,Baker was awarded the HRC Liley Medal for his contribution to the health and medical sciences. [20] He was a joint recipient of the Shorland Medal in 2019 for his work with the SHIVERS team of influenza researchers. [21]
In the 2021 New Year Honours,Baker was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit,for services to public health science. [22]
Baker received the 2020 Prime Minister's Science Communication Prize,recognising his 2000+ interviews on COVID-19 since January 2020. [23] He was awarded the 2021 Cranwell Medal for science communication by the New Zealand Association of Scientists. [24] In 2022,he was awarded the Callaghan Medal by the Royal Society Te Apārangi for "science-informed commentary on the Covid-19 pandemic and other major public health issues in Aotearoa New Zealand". [25]
Sir David Christopher Graham Skegg is a New Zealand epidemiologist and university administrator. He is an emeritus professor in the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine at the University of Otago. He was the vice-chancellor of the university from 2004 to 2011 and president of the Royal Society of New Zealand from 2012 to 2015. His primary research interest is cancer epidemiology.
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Ayesha Jennifer Verrall is a New Zealand politician, infectious-diseases physician, and researcher with expertise in tuberculosis and international health. She is a Labour Party Member of the New Zealand Parliament and a Cabinet Minister with the roles of Minister of Health and Minister for Research, Science and Innovation. She has worked as a senior lecturer at the University of Otago, Wellington and as a member of the Capital and Coast District Health Board. During the COVID-19 pandemic she provided the Ministry of Health with an independent review and recommendations for its contact-tracing approach to COVID-19 cases.
Managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) was a quarantine system implemented by the New Zealand Government during the country's COVID-19 pandemic. Under the system, people entering New Zealand, COVID-19 positive cases and some of their close contacts were required to isolate at an MIQ facility for 14 days. Compulsory managed isolation and quarantine was announced by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at the 1pm press conference on 9 April 2020, with the system coming into effect for people boarding flights to New Zealand from midnight that day. The government contracted dozens of hotels in five cities that were exclusively used as managed isolation facilities. The task was organised by the Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) unit, part of the COVID-19 All-of-Government Response Group.
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Jemma Louise Geoghegan is a Scottish-born evolutionary virologist, based at the University of Otago, New Zealand, who specialises in researching emerging infectious diseases and the use of metagenomics to trace the evolution of viruses. As a leader in several government-funded research projects, Geoghegan became the public face of genomic sequencing during New Zealand's response to COVID-19. Her research has contributed to the discussion about the likely cause of COVID-19 and the challenges around predicting pandemics. She was a recipient of the Young Tall Poppy Award in 2017, a Rutherford Discovery Fellowship in 2020, and the 2021 Prime Minister's Emerging Scientist Prize.
Claire Ann Deeks is a New Zealand anti-vaccine activist who has challenged the government's response to COVID-19. She was an unsuccessful candidate for the Advance NZ party in the 2020 general election, and set up the group Voices for Freedom (VFF), which distributed pamphlets that have been criticised by experts as containing COVID-19 misinformation about vaccines, lockdown and the wearing of masks. As a food blogger, Deeks promoted the paleo diet and "healthy" lunchboxes for children, and developed a petition to stop the rating system for foods used by the NZ and Australian governments. She is a former intellectual property lawyer.
The COVID-19 Protection Framework was a system used by the New Zealand Government during the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand. The three-tier traffic light system used vaccination and community transmission rates to determine the level of restrictions needed. It came into effect at 11:59 pm on 2 December 2021, replacing the four-tier alert level system, which used lockdowns. On 12 September 2022, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that the traffic light system would be dropped at 11:59 pm that night.
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Michael John Plank is an English-born professor in mathematics and statistics at the University of Canterbury, and a principal investigator at Te Pūnaha Matatini. Plank's research has focused on mechanistic mathematical and stochastic models and areas of expertise include ecological and social networks, population dynamics, epidemiological models and marine ecosystems. His work has included developing and applying models to the balanced managing of fishing sites, revitalisation of endangered languages and invasive plant and weed impact. As a Co-Lead for Covid-19 Modelling Aotearoa, a research programme established initially under Te Pūnaha Matatini but independent since 2021, he came to prominence as a COVID-19 modeller and frequent commentator in the media during the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand. Plank has received several awards in recognition of contributions to the field of applied mathematics, particularly for his explanations of how mathematical modelling can benefit social and ecological environments and concerns.
This article documents the timeline of transmission of COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand throughout 2022.
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