However, civil defence is speaking with councils and emergency services to check on their preparedness in case of the spread of Covid-19 in Otago.
Emergency Management Otago acting director Michele Poole said emergency management officers began liaising with councils last week and would continue this week, focusing on discussing the region’s preparedness.
"If there was a significant outbreak, there could be a state of emergency declared in Otago but that would be a very drastic move — we’re a very long way away from that," she said.
"This isn’t a civil defence emergency, we’re making preparations because that’s the prudent thing to do."
There were meetings scheduled this week involving various members of her team and local emergency services, covering Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago, and also Clutha.
There would be a meeting of the Otago Readiness and Response Committee, which included emergency services, this week.
Emergency management officers were embedded in each of the four district councils and the city council.
"Part of their job is to support each council to prepare for emergencies and respond to them."
The meetings were important to keep lines of communication between agencies open and ensure the region had the resources to cope with an outbreak.
"Things would have to be very dire before there was a state of emergency declared — as we’ve seen overseas, some places have done so."
The civil defence website says the Ministry of Health and all other health sector agencies undertake the planning necessary to provide health services in the event of any emergency.
This includes minimising the effects of and planning for management of pandemics.
It has developed four alert codes to provide an easily understood system of communication for an emergency.
Otago is in "code white", along with the rest of New Zealand, where a potential emergency situation that may affect New Zealand has been confirmed.
The next code was yellow, which would include a warning of an imminent code red alert, the next stage.
Code red was the activation of a major emergency.
Ms Poole said the focus of Emergency Management Otago was supporting the Ministry of Health and the Southern District Health Board, which led the response in enforcing messages like hand washing, coughing and sneezing etiquette and how to avoid the spread of the virus.
She encouraged businesses and individuals to continue planning in case the virus spread.
"Households should think about what they need to do if they had to be in self-isolation for two weeks. Are you set up to do online shopping? Can a friend drop things at your door?
"It doesn’t mean panic-buying toilet paper.
"Those sort of discussions are helpful for households to have."
She said Emergency Management Otago was making contingency plans in case a different emergency such as a flood were to arise while the community was dealing with a pandemic.
"We’re working on how we can respond to any other sort of emergency while the region is affected by a pandemic, so we’re looking at communications technology. Can we work while at a distance from each other?"
