August 15, 2023
Time for thanks as Covid threat recedes
Labour deputy leader Kelvin Davis says dropping remaining Covid restrictions is the sensible decision.
He says it’s time to acknowledge all those who got the country through the worst of the pandemic, including health workers and those who helped with the vaccination programmes.
The current state of the virus and improvements to the health system means risks are manageable.
“If you go to the doctor or any medical place there’s no need to wear a mask any more. People can still do so if they want to. If you get Covid there’s no obligation to isolate for five days. We still recommend people do but there is no isolation. Seasonal flu is putting more pressure on the hospital system now than Covid is,” Mr Davis says.
There were 5500 reported cases of Covid-19 last week, and the World Health Organisation has put the latest Omnicron variant EG -point- 5 on its watch list – although the risk to public health risk is evaluated as low at the global level,