With Northland entering level 3, Auckland in level with benefits, and Waikato in level 3 restrictions, University of Otago epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker told Checkpoint there needs to be clarity on what strategy New Zealand is pursuing against Covid-19.
“We've actually had very confused messages this week about a number of things, including what comes after elimination, which we seem to be transitioning out of. That hasn't been made clear.
“Also how are we going to use the alert level system? Because Auckland is using a stepped approach, they’re stepping up. The rest of the country's got alert levels and is stepping down. There's also a version of a traffic light system that's been proposed circulating at the moment.
“So I think this week has really been quite poor for clarity of communication and coherence.
“The government really has to sort out where we're going. And one of the approaches I think we should look at would actually be a regional approach.”
Professor Baker said suppression could be pursued in Auckland while an elimination strategy could work in the South Island.
