There are encouraging trends of decreasing community cases, hospitalisations and death rates linked to Covid across the country, the Ministry of Health says, as we enter "a new stage" of the pandemic.
There are 1793 new cases of Covid-19 in the community.
There are also 260 people in hospital, including 5 in intensive care.
Ministry of Health deputy director-general and head of the Public Health Agency, Dr Andrew Old, also reported a further 6 virus-related deaths.
Old said in the past week, the seven-day rolling average of cases has decreased by 27 per cent for all age groups. He said the death rate was also decreasing.
On the week ending July 31 rates were up at 220, on August 28 they were at 50, he said.
Old said these trends were "encouraging".
Hospital bed numbers occupied by Covid-19 patients are also decreasing, said Dr Pete Watson, interim national medical director for Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand.
Watson anticipates improvements will continue through September and October.
He said the downward trend is reflected within the health system and the pressure on the health system is starting to ease.
He said the issue of staff shortages due to illness was beginning to wane, so services are starting to pick up.
Cancer screening was "definitely impacted" by the pandemic and Watson said they were now working to get screening back up to where it is supposed to be.
However, he said they do still expect to see impacts of the long tail of Covid-19.
Old said most countries in the Northern Hemisphere experienced a peak in cases during the summer season.
Our winter wave was "a bit" later than the winter waves experienced in Northern Hemisphere countries.
He said with BA.5 it was unlikely New Zealand would have a summer wave.
"If we get the next variant, that would change the picture here."
Old said we had a lower and earlier peak of cases in this second Omicron wave than what was predicted by modellers.
He said the variant that was almost exclusively circulating was B.A5.
"We haven't seen the last of it, and we have to remain vigilant.
"Having said that, right now we are clearly moving into a new stage of the pandemic."
Old said he was not expecting a rise in cases in the coming weeks, but fluctuations in the future should be expected because Covid-19 was not specifically a seasonal disease.
Announcements would be made next week about the easing of Covid-19 protection framework and Old wouldn't answer questions about that today.
At this stage, Old said there were no plans to introduce third or subsequent booster doses of the vaccine, but announcements about broadening the eligibility for the second booster will be made soon.
Chief medical officer at Te Aka Whai Ora (Māori Health Authority) Dr Rawiri McKree Jansen said Covid is "not done with us yet".
"It is not over yet.
"We've still got a lot of work to do."
Jansen said the decline in cases was important for the Maori population.
"We have to acknowledge all of those whanau who have suffered the loss of someone during the pandemic, said Jansen.
He said Maori providers "stepped up" during the pandemic and it was important to carry on with the work all ready being done.
The interruption on the health system due to Covid came on top of a long standing under performance for Maori, said Jansen.
"We don't want to go back to that."
Old said those producing and distributing the Bivalent vaccine haven't applied to circulate them here.
He said they were watching the use of the vaccine overseas "very carefully".
Today's press conference comes after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern revealed last week that they were considering axing the traffic light system and relaxing other remaining restrictions.
Covid-19 Response Minister Ayesha Verrall wouldn't give details of what was on the table ahead of the next Cabinet decision, but the Government appears to have signalled mask mandates may be dropped in all but the most high-risk health settings.
New Zealand epidemiologist Michael Baker says the Covid-19 traffic light framework has outlived its usefulness.
Baker would like to see the country move on to a more straightforward system.
"People may say we've had enough of frameworks, but we do need a common language," says Baker.
The Otago University-based infectious diseases expert says we could draw on other examples also designed to keep society safe from harm.
"When you drive through the countryside in summer, you have a big sign that you see regularly, which has a five-point scale about the risk of fire... We need something as simple as that to give you an idea of the level of risk. And the red zone should really be reserved for when we are at risk of overwhelming our health system."
Meanwhile, some experts have urged against completely abandoning our last lines of defence - masks and home isolation - stressing that the virus hasn't gone anywhere and warning that decisions made could shape the health of Kiwis over decades to come.
Vaccine mandates remain only for a few sectors, in particular for certain health and disability roles. Masks are required on domestic flights, public transport and in public facilities and retail businesses, but not in cafes, bars and restaurants.
While a seven-day isolation period remains in place for infected people and their household contacts, quarantine-free travel into the country is now open to everyone - provided they're vaccinated and take two rapid antigen tests (RATs) on arrival.
A positive example of free meals helping kids and community.