The final phase of the Government's Omicron response is upon us and arguably the most significant change is that only the "highest risk contacts" will need to isolate.
A three-phase response to Omicron was announced by the Government in late January as cases began to emerge in the community, and in just over a month we're already at the final phase, highlighting how quickly the variant spreads.
While the first phase continued the 'stamp it out' approach applied to Delta, as the number of daily cases reached 1000, the second phase came into effect on February 16, and with it shortened isolation periods and the introduction of rapid antigen tests (RATs).
RATs were introduced to enable workers pinged as close contacts to keep showing up at work as long as they returned a negative test. Only approved businesses deemed essential to economic flow can access RATs.
It's only been a week since the second phase was introduced but with the number of daily cases now in the thousands, it's time for the final phase where only the "highest risk contacts" will need to be isolated.
The move to the final phase comes into effect at 11:59pm, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins announced on Thursday, after the number of cases from Wednesday topped 5000.
The isolation periods remain the same at both the second and third phases: cases must stay at home for 10 days while contacts need to isolate themselves for seven.
But it's the definition of contacts that changes at the third and final phase, as Associate Health Minister Ayesha Verrall explained in January when she announced the three phases.
"At phase three, when cases are in the thousands, we will make further changes to contact tracing. The definition of contacts will change to household and household-like contacts only. This will mean the highest risk contacts will need to isolate," Dr Verrall said at the time.
Hipkins confirmed on Thursday that the 'household-like contact' term has been scrapped to keep the definitions simple.
Household contacts will need to isolate until the person who is positive in the house completes 10 days of isolation. The household contact will need to get a test on day three and day eight, or if symptomatic.
Dr Verrall's office confirmed to Newshub it is only household contacts that need to be isolated at the third phase - all other contacts just need to monitor their symptoms.
A traditional nasal PCR swab is no longer required to confirm a case of COVID-19 at the final phase. If you test positive using a RAT, you need to record it in the My COVID Record app or call 0800 222 478 - it's all in the instructions when you get a RAT.
Under the third phase, symptomatic people and critical workers can get a RAT from a doctor, pharmacy, Community Testing Centre or workplace. RATs will be available to the public from March.
Scanning is still encouraged because it will be used to identify high-risk exposures. But there will be limited use of push notifications, locations of interest or Bluetooth tracing.
The Ministry of Health's contact tracing team will focus on following up with people potentially exposed to COVID-19 at high-risk locations, such as hospitals.
New Zealand is one of the most vaccinated countries in the world - 95 percent of the eligible population - which means that for most people, Omicron will be a mild to moderate illness, Hipkins said.
"That should make the next period less of a worry for the vast majority of people. But we are still strongly encouraging people to get boosted. You are much less likely to need hospital care and new evidence shows it helps lower the likelihood of getting infected and transmitting COVID-19 to others. So please, for those who aren't yet boosted, it's now urgent."
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has signalled the Government's intention to roll back COVID-19 vaccine mandates and passports after Omicron has peaked in roughly three to six weeks.
"At that point, if we follow the pattern of other countries, we'll likely see a rapid decline, followed by cases stabilising at a lower level. That is the point when we can start to do things differently," Ardern said on Monday.
"Vaccine passes were a way of ensuring that within the relatively free system of the traffic lights, that people who were in high-risk places had some layer of protection.
"But once we come through a wave and peak of Omicron, that equation changes because many unvaccinated people will at that point have been exposed to the virus."
