Chris Hipkins says he's asked not to see any violent messages that are sent to him because otherwise you can "live your whole life in fear".
The number of messages to the COVID-19 Response Minister's inbox has dropped "quite significantly" in the past few weeks, he says, presumably after it was announced that the use of COVID-19 vaccine certificates are ending and mandates are being largely rolled back.
But that doesn't mean he still isn't being sent violent messages.
"I've kind of asked not to be told about the worst of some of that, because otherwise you just live your whole life in fear," Hipkins says.
"I trust all those that are dealing with that correspondence and all of those issues to alert me if there is something that I really need to know about."
He says that there are people who are "very nervous" about the change in the COVID-19 response, but most people have accepted that we're now in a different phase.
"The people who are nervous in many cases are just not getting out and about, as opposed to writing to us about it," he says.
"We're still getting a bit of correspondence about that. The overall correspondence volume has dropped away quite significantly in the last few weeks."
Associate Minister of Health Ayesha Verrall also says that she doesn't look at any very negative or violent messages.
As part of the new changes, as of last week, there are no more limits on outdoor gatherings while indoor gathering limits have increased from 100 to 200. There is also no requirement to scan in or for a business to display a QR code poster or have mandatory record keeping.
Vaccine passes must be used until 11:59pm on April 4, but after that they become optional.
Mandates are also being rolled back to just a few industries, including health, aged care, border, and Corrections workers.
Face masks are still required in most indoor settings, but you don't need to wear a mask outside.
