November 09, 2021
COVID level drop brings risk
A member of Māori pandemic response group Te Rōpū Whakakaupapa Urutā is disappointed at the decision to ease restrictions while daily case numbers of COVID-19 remain high.
From midnight Auckland will drop to 3.2 conditions, meaning shops and public facilities in Auckland can reopen and outdoor gatherings can increase to 25 people.
The far north drops back to level 2 on Thursday night, after being put in level 3 last week because authorities were unsure about the origins of two cases near Kaitaia.
Public health expert Sue Crengle says an extra couple of weeks without changing levels would have given providers a chance to lift Māori vaccination levels higher.
She says especially in Northland, health authorities need to be confident there is no further community spread before dropping levels.
“If there is no other community spread, moving down a level, safe thing to do, but if there is another community spread we haven’t identified yet, then there is a risk that with the dropping down to level 2, it will give the virus a little more leeway to get out and about amongst whānau,” Dr Crengle says.