Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has confirmed that the entire country will remain at the Red traffic light setting.
Despite some regions like Auckland and Te Tai Rāwhiti seeing drops in case numbers, and hospitalisations down in Auckland, in some regions like Canterbury peaks have not been reached. With hospitalisations expected to peak between mid and late April, the public health advice received means no easing of restrictions as "we are not out of the woods yet," Ardern says.
The next review for the traffic light settings will happen on Thursday, April 14, before Easter Weekend.
The recently refined rules for the red setting remain, with outdoor events being able to go ahead with no attendance cap, and indoor dining and event limits at 200.
"I know there is an eagerness to move to Orange, but we are, amid an outbreak and there's still pressure across our medical networks," Ardern says. "About 98% of all Covid cases have occurred in the past 90 days, and with the wave moving down the country still, we need to be mindful of the pressure of healthcare nationally."
My Vaccine Pass mandates and vaccine mandates for most government workers, except in health and aged care, Corrections, and border workforces, are also to be lifted at 11:59 pm tonight, with businesses still free to choose if they wish to keep using them.
Political parties react
Act leader David Seymour called out the prime minister saying "she's doing nothing".
“Today we got an announcement that the announcement wasn’t being announced and that another announcement might come later,” he says.
“Kiwis are tired of rules that don’t make sense," he says. “There is no longer any logical framework to the government's response. The traffic light system was designed to manage crowd sizes in combination with vaccine passes. Now there are no vaccine passes, and crowd sizes are designed for Delta, so staying in red really just means we're choosing to carry on as normal but kneecap the event industry.
“It is clearly fatigue and I get that but people who have been through two years of restrictions need clarity and logic from the government. All we are getting now is life on Jacinda's whims, and people cannot afford it."
The Greens are doubling down on their call for greater protection, Covid-19 response spokesperson Teanau Tuiono saying “Many of our families and vulnerable communities will feel some relief by remaining at ‘red’ for now - but now is the time to act to strengthen protections, particularly around masking and ventilation. The pandemic is not over.”
The Greens are concerned about relaxing the rules and an end to the mandatory use of vaccine passes that are to disappear at midnight tonight.
“Whatever way you look at it, it will be Māori and Pacific whānau, immunocompromised people, disabled people, our under-5s, and whānau on the lowest incomes who are the most impacted by the continuing pandemic," Tuiono says.
“All we need to do is look overseas to know what happens when protections are lifted too soon - we should be using this knowledge to ensure our vulnerable communities are protected and safe, especially our disabled and immunocompromised whānau.
“My concern sits firmly with the parents and caregivers of disabled, immunocompromised and medically fragile children, most of whom have been isolated since the beginning of the pandemic two years ago," Tuiono says
The Green plan
The Green Party is calling on the government to:
- roll out a school-based vaccination programme to ensure high and equitable vaccine coverage among eligible children;
- increase the work alongside Māori and Pasifika community leadership to achieve high equity in vaccine coverage;
- provide free N95 masks or equivalent for everyone, starting in schools for both children and teachers, as children will be at greater risk from the removal of vaccine mandates; and
- begin work on ventilation standards for all buildings, to improve indoor air quality.