Covid 19: PM Jacinda Ardern takes cautious approach to traffic light settings

The Delta variant is a highly contagious Sars-CoV-2 virus strain. Video / Paul Slater

By RNZ

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the country has only been in the traffic light system for 10 days and is still in a period of transition.

Cabinet will today consider whether any regions will move to a different setting under the system and after that no more changes are planned until after the summer holiday period in mid-January.

Ardern said New Zealand is still transitioning into the new Covid protection framework and there has not yet been a full transmission cycle of 14 days since the change was made.

"As we're easing, just making sure that we've seen the full impact of that easing, we only eased on the third so we haven't seen a full transmission cycle yet and that's something you'll remember we've always used as a bit of a guide to show us what the likely impact of a step change is."

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Asked why Auckland could not move from red into orange given the city's high vaccination rates, Ardern reiterated that it was a time of transition.

"If we'd had a bit of time in the Covid protection framework, yes, but we're transitioning into it, this is a big shift into this framework, we want to take it carefully."

She said the Government has always used the transmission cycle as a guide to show the likely impact of any step change.

"The one thing we're very mindful of is if you do move too soon you run the risk of escalating cases and then you end up back in higher restrictions."

Ardern said Cabinet has not yet met to discuss the final outcome and when it does it will have all the latest advice from the Government's public health team.

She said it will consider all the competing interests but the Government wants to give some certainty to Aucklanders.

Govt watching emerging events in terms of Omicron

Ardern said it was only a matter of time before the new Covid-19 variant Omicron arrives at the country's borders, but the Government will be able to assess its impact before deciding how much risk New Zealand will accept.

To combat Omicron, the Australian government has just announced that the booster shot will be available one month earlier than previously. Australians can now get a booster five months after their second vaccination dose.

Ardern said the New Zealand Government relies on advice from the Expert Advisory Group when considering the gap between the final vaccine dose and the booster shot.

"The Expert Advisory Group can of course at any time recommend to us to change the gap between the final dose and booster, so that is absolutely their prerogative, they can do that at any time, they've not done it to date."

But she said there are already about 400,000 people in New Zealand who are eligible for booster shots before the end of the year.

Ardern said there are already strict restrictions for New Zealanders returning from Australia and that has not changed.

"We have pre-departure testing, a double vaccination requirement, on arrival testing and then testing through your self-isolation, so quite a rigorous approach."

Ardern said the Government will be watching emerging events in terms of Omicron.

She said more should be known about the new variant in a couple of weeks.

Asked whether it was possible to keep the Omicron variant out of the community in New Zealand Ardern said there is a risk the moment that people are asked to self-isolate.

"The moment that you are allowing people to self isolate you have to have a risk tolerance for that, because of course ... people self-isolating [at home] does add extra risk."

Ardern said the Government has prepared its systems for decisions around that.

She said at the moment the Government is using MIQ to isolate returnees.

"That's while we get all the evidence that we need to make sure that we're comfortable with the arrangements going forward."

On the economy, Ardern said every country is experiencing a spike in inflation due to things like supply chain issues, consumer demand as things come back online.

She said in New Zealand it is very difficult to see what changes would make any difference in the short term when it is due to external factors beyond the Government's control.