Covid

All mask wearing requirements except in healthcare and aged care will be scrapped, and household contacts will no longer need to isolate, the government has ...

She says the government has been open to the idea of an independent inquiry into the response but is still getting advice about what that would look like. "As a nation, Covid has hurt us in many ways but perhaps the one we talk about less than others is the toll it's taken on everyone's mental health. That's why isolating Covid cases to protect our most vulnerable is important, and why treatment is too." And so today I say again to everyone from the bottom of my heart, thank you. "I'm sure there will be many who over the years will pore over the details of every nation's response including ours. Ardern said it marked a milestone in New Zealand's response to the virus.

The Ministry of Health gave the update as Cabinet meets to decide the fate of NZ's Covid protections.

As this categorisation is made over coming days, the attributable deaths will be added to the total reported above. The seven-day rolling average increase in total deaths attributable to Covid-19, as of Monday, is now five. It is expected that most people in hospital with Covid-19 would be vaccinated. The seven-day rolling average of new community cases on Monday is 1480, down from 1778 this time last week. Two were women and four were men. [over-represented in hospitalisation data.](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/explained/129256918/covid19-nz-why-the-rising-tide-of-cases-doesnt-tell-the-whole-story) [whether they are attributable to Covid-19](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/explained/300640848/covid19-officials-are-changing-the-way-deaths-are-reported--heres-how), either as the underlying cause of death or as a contributing factor, or are unrelated to Covid. [confirmed as attributable to Covid-19,](https://www.health.govt.nz/news-media/news-items/1149-community-cases-225-hospitalisations-3-icu) either as the underlying cause of death or as a contributing factor. [Covid-19](http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus), as Cabinet is set to decide the [fate of the traffic light system.](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/129824279/covid19-jacinda-ardern-set-to-skip-green-head-straight-to-near-normality) [both the traffic light settings](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/129724832/government-to-review-orange-traffic-light-setting-and-covid19-rules) (the country is in orange) and broader Covid-19 protections. [has not ruled out the possibility](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/129817778/covid19-traffic-lights-top-of-agenda-as-cabinet-prepares-to-meet) of doing away with the traffic light system altogether. [the Ministry of Health said in a statement.](https://www.health.govt.nz/news-media/news-items/1149-community-cases-225-hospitalisations-3-icu)

New Zealand will no longer require people to wear masks in indoor public spaces or to be vaccinated to work in certain roles, as the country winds down its ...

Jacinda Ardern says it is time to 'turn the page' on the pandemic as she scraps all but a handful of restrictions.

So today, I say again to everyone, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.” “Where our borders are fully reopened and there isn’t a fear of being separated or stranded. Also gone are the few remaining vaccine mandates, for workers and inbound travellers. “Today marks a milestone in our response. From Tuesday, mask-wearing will only be compulsory in healthcare settings, excepting mental health services. [dropped sharply in recent weeks](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/15/new-zealand-covid-cases-at-six-month-low-in-sign-winter-wave-is-easing), giving the government confidence to move past onerous restrictions.

Lack of new plan for Covid-19 is a 'lost opportunity', epidemiologist Michael Baker says.

That doesn't mean it's harmless or that we can forget about it," he said. "A far more reassuring message would be for the Government to demonstrate that it's aware of the challenges and is actively preparing for both expected and unexpected threats to public health," she said. "New Zealanders are being promised a Covid-free summer, but that lovely outcome is not in the power of any Government to promise," she said. "It is also important to remember that, as always, government-mandated requirements are a minimum level of what can be expected of people, as opposed to what is sufficient to keep everyone safe in all situations," he said. "While test-to-release may not be a requirement of the new Covid-19 settings, it is still something that people may choose to follow and the continued free availability of RATs makes that more practical than it otherwise would be." "We know that isolating confirmed cases of Covid-19 while they are infectious is a crucial piece of public health policy, that prevents a large amount of onward transmission, while only causing disruption to the number of people who are confirmed infections," she said. "The reason is that, at any given point in time, the large majority of the population will be immune to the virus and so the majority of masks will be having little or no effect," he said. "It is inconvenient - but it's one of the realities we face, and we need a carefully-reasoned response to imported cases." "The traffic light system was quite poor, but we could have easily evolved it to develop a very good, a very high-quality system for categorising the level of risk." "The immediate problem is that Covid-19 is highly likely to produce new waves in the medium term, that may or may not be more severe than what we've seen," he said. "We know that two-thirds of people are still infectious at five days, and a quarter are at seven days," he said. [a sweeping roll-back](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/a-new-phase-in-our-covid-19-response-pm-jacinda-ardern-announces-end-to-traffic-light-system/GNOMDTDO4ZFDOOLBM4L4Q4O3UM/) to our Covid-19 settings as a "mixed bag" - and the lack of a fresh plan to move to as a lost opportunity.

Rather than fighting to return to a normal that no longer exists, we should be adapting to minimise the risk of a highly infectious virus.

Our early response to the pandemic showed very clearly how a good health response is also good for the economy. Given they are what so many people want rid of – after all, they are a reminder that we are still in a pandemic – what else is there? If good ventilation isn’t possible, then we need to get rid of the virus from the air. To make it possible for people to isolate there should be a payment that goes directly to people who need to isolate. Fighting against public health measures is ableist, inequitable, unjust and bad for the economy. Are we thinking of getting rid of the Smoke-free Environments Act just because less people are smoking? But I want to be really clear: we still need a Covid Protection Framework – one that protects us from a highly infectious airborne virus, which is what the virus responsible for Covid-19 is. Lots of sick and disabled people is bad for their and their families physical and mental wellbeing. They are there to protect the wider public too. This increased risk didn’t just apply to the old or to fat people or people with diabetes. Vaccines, antivirals and other medicines mean in the short term at least, Covid-19 is not the same infection it was even just a year ago. The good news is that we’ve come a long way since the pandemic started.