New Zealand is to keep its COVID-19 mandates, including seven-day isolations and mask mandates in specific settings, for at least two more months.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said at a press conference, “We are heading towards a point where COVID-19 will become normal. I would expect, certainly at the latest, by the end of the winter, we’ll be into that zone.”
“Isolation remains effective in managing spread and keeping case numbers down, and it also helps reduce pressure on our hospital services,” according to Minister for Health Ayesha Verrall.
“But we need to make sure our settings are right and look at examples of what is working around the world. A test to return to work rule for lower risk or mild or asymptomatic cases could help reduce the strain on some workforces this winter,” Verrall continued.
ACT New Zealand leader David Seymour noted, “Not only is the isolation requirement draconian and out of touch, but it is also ineffective. Nobody knows the true compliance rate, least of all the Government.”
Reporting from The Epoch Times:
Modelling by COVID-19 Modelling Aotearoa (New Zealand) suggested that an end of mandatory isolation would cause a 13 to 25 percent increase in hospital admissions and deaths in the subsequent six months. ... “This modelling assumes that the behavioural change in response to any policy update occurs immediately. If, instead, the behavioural change occurs more gradually, this would reduce the size of the initial peak and lead to a more gradual transition onto the same long-term trends,” it said.
