The Prime Minister says there is "no expectation" New Zealand will move to the red traffic light setting "at this stage", questioning whether gathering limits would make a "marked difference" on case rates.
Kiwis are being told by experts to brace themselves for a sharp jump in COVID-19 cases as the BA.5 Omicron sub-variant takes hold in New Zealand. The seven-day rolling average is already back on the up, sitting at 7246 on Tuesday compared to 5480 a week ago.
It comes as the health system faces pressure from also dealing with the return of the flu as well as worker shortages.
But Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who is currently in Australia on a trade mission, told media on Tuesday the Government has no expectations New Zealand will be moving to red at this stage.
"We have recently done a review and decided to stay at the settings that we had," she said.
"Keep in mind, we have really important rules at the orange setting that are there to protect us. Having just come from Europe, also recently the United States, even being here in Australia, I can tell you that New Zealand is still using measures many other countries don't."
At orange, face masks are required in some indoor settings, like on public transport and in retail stores. However, at the red setting, masks are necessary in other settings, like hospitality, while indoor gathering limits of 200 people are also in place.
"I think the point here is we have to do things that we know will make a difference to what we are seeing now. We know what makes a difference is mask use and vaccination. These are restrictions that are not widely used outside of New Zealand," Ardern said.
"Would gathering limits right now make a marked difference to the case rates that we have? There is a real question mark over that particularly given that we are seeing those rates in some of our older New Zealanders. We know the biggest thing we can do to make a difference right now is mask use and vaccines, so that is what we are asking New Zealanders to do."
She highlighted that a second COVID-19 booster is available. Anyone over the age of 50 can access it, while it's recommended for the elderly and Māori and Pacific peoples.
"I encourage our older New Zealanders to go out and get that booster shot and for people to keep using their masks," Ardern said.
"If you are sick, isolate at home. Not every country is doing that still and that does set New Zealand apart."
In a statement to Newshub this week, COVID-19 Response Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall said decisions around traffic light settings are made by Cabinet on the basis of Ministry of Health advice.
The ministry said a number of factors go into their review of the settings, including "the capacity of the health sector and its workforce, the transmissibility and severity of the COVID-19 variants circulating community, scenario modelling and daily case numbers".
Last week, Dr Verrall made the point that the last time New Zealand was in red "we had over 10,000 cases a day". On Tuesday, New Zealand recorded 9629 new cases.
