IS IT SAFE TO TRANSITION TO A NEW FRAMEWORK WHILE AUCKLAND CASES OF COVID-19 ARE GROWING?

Alert Levels will remain in place until vaccination levels provide some safety and we are ready to move to CPF. Until then we will maintain the current Alert Levels and continue to do the preparation to implement the next stage of the plan.

HOW WILL THIS PROTECT YOUNG CHILDREN AND OTHERS WHO CANNOT BE VACCINATED?

Until a vaccine is approved for under 12s, the best protection for children is high community vaccination rates around them. The same goes for people who can’t be vaccinated for health reasons. The more people who get vaccinated, the safer all our vulnerable people will be.

IN THE FUTURE WILL MOST PEOPLE WITH COVID-19 BE ABLE TO RECOVER AT HOME?

Work is going into developing support for people recovering from COVID-19 in the community. There are likely to be daily or twice daily welfare checks.

Some people recovering from COVID-19 at home may need to be provided with a pulse oximeter which sits on a patient’s finger and measures their oxygen levels. Health authorities would call these patients and ask them to provide a reading from time to time to ensure their oxygen levels are not deteriorating.

HOW MANY ACTIVE CASES DOES THE CPF FACTOR IN BEFORE A POSSIBLE CHANGE IN STATUS WOULD BE REQUIRED?

Our pathway forward means moving away from counting individual cases. The new framework includes high levels of vaccination. Because vaccination significantly reduces the risks people face if they do get COVID-19, decisions around levels under the framework will be more about managing spread and minimising risk to the health system and vulnerable populations than total numbers of cases.

DOES THIS MEAN I DON’T NEED TO WEAR A MASK OR SCAN ANYMORE?

Mandatory face coverings will still be required for domestic air travel in Green and in many places at Orange and Red. Mandatory record keeping will continue to apply under all levels.

I’M DOUBLE-VACCINATED, SO WHY CAN’T I HAVE MORE FREEDOM NOW?

We need very high levels of vaccine coverage across the whole of NZ and in all our communities before we can implement the CPF. That’s the only way we can protect everyone. 90% is a minimum vaccination rate, and we need to continue pushing to get higher than that.