New Zealand moved to the orange settings of the Covid-19 Protection Framework on the night of April 13, 2022, after having been in red since late January due to the Omicron outbreak.
Since it has been more than four months of being in the orange light and many Covid-19 restrictions have been eased out, including opening NZ borders since July 31 and scrapping the pre-departure test for NZ, among others.
So, now the big question that many New Zealanders are asking is when will Aotearoa move to the Green settings of the Covid-19 Protection Framework?
During the orange settings, there are no capacity limits on gatherings, either indoors or outdoors. Face masks must continue to be worn in some indoor locations, like on public transport and in retail, but not in hospitality. But there are no such restrictions when the green setting is in place. The mask requirement would be removed under the Green settings except for self-isolation.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday (August 29) said that the Cabinet would review both the traffic light settings and the broader Covid-19 rules in two weeks.
“We have always said that when we came out the other side of winter, we’d have a look at all of our settings,” Ardern said.
When Indian Weekender got in touch with the Ministry of Health (MoH), a spokesperson said, “The MoH reviews the traffic light settings of the Covid-19 Protection Framework regularly and when there are global changes or a significant change in NZ’s Covid-19 situation.”
It may be noted that while the ministry provides advice around the Covid Protection Framework, the decisions around the CPF and the traffic light setting are for the Government. “Many factors are considered, including daily case numbers, hospitalisations, the capacity of the health sector and its workforce, the Covid-19 variants in circulation, and scenario modelling. We continue to keep our response to the current community outbreak of Covid-19 under review. We will adapt it as the outbreak and pandemic evolve and as part of our resurgence planning. Covid-19 is highly transmissible, and we need to continue to use a range of tools to protect ourselves and our whanau from infection,” said the spokesperson.
Even experts feel that it is not the right time to move NZ to the Green settings.
‘It is premature to change the current setting.’
Auckland University epidemiologist Professor Rod Jackson thinks that NZ should remain at Orange until the number of cases, hospitalisations, and deaths decline significantly from current levels.
He says, “While the reported cases are now about 2,000 per day, this is definitely a gross underestimate. Moreover, according to the MoH, there are approximately 18,000 currently active cases in NZ. As the actual number could be three or more times this, 1 in 1000 New Zealanders could be active cases. And given how infectious the omicron variant is, it is premature to change the current setting. “
‘Revise the Traffic Light System to allow a more nuanced approach to mask use requirement’.
Otago University epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker maintains that the government response to Covid-19 needs to be proportionate to the risk, and there is potential to lessen controls as case numbers drop. He says, “At a certain point, NZ should be able to reduce mask requirements in some indoor settings. However, it would probably be important to retain mask use in higher-risk settings such as health care and aged care facilities. The current Traffic Light System doesn’t cater to this approach since it appears that it would remove all mask use requirements at the Green setting. One approach would be to revise the TLS to allow a more nuanced approach to mask use requirements.”
Baker also feels that other vital areas such as isolation times for cases and 'test to release' need to be reviewed.
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