Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is calling for New Zealanders to continue wearing face masks as the country prepares to shift to a new version of the red traffic light setting later this week.
Ardern announced the changes to the COVID traffic light system during a press conference on Wednesday.
While crowd gathering limits have been scrapped for outdoor events and indoor gathering limits have been lifted from 100 to 200, most mask rules remain unchanged and will still be needed in most indoor settings.
Ardern on Wednesday was asked about the impacts of easing restrictions on immunocompromised and disabled people.
"I know, of course, members of our disability community and immunocompromised community are mindful of the wider risk and that's why [there are] all of those extra public health measures," she told reporters.
"Mask use is a really respectful thing that you can do to protect others - making sure we're still using those spacing rules is another way we can keep people safe out and about in the community and they all remain."
Experts agreed masks were still necessary.
"Keeping mask rules is crucial to limit transmission," University of Canterbury disease modeller Michael Plank said.
"The data from overseas is really clear - those countries that have dropped restrictions as their Omicron wave was subsiding are now experiencing another wave. For that reason, I am relieved to see masks stay and added to the orange setting of the traffic light," said Siouxsie Wiles, a microbiologist from the University of Auckland.
New Zealand will be moving to the new red traffic light setting at 11:59pm on Friday.
It comes after the Ministry of Health reported 11 COVID deaths and 20,087 new community cases on Wednesday.
