The government will today reveal what changes it is making to the Covid-19 response as case numbers soar, and health and education figures report the disease is hitting their communities hard.
Principals' Federation president Cherie Taylor-Patel says schools that made masks compulsory had seen less illness. File photo Photo: 123RF
More than 70,000 people currently have the virus, although the real number is thought to be much higher. There are more than 700 people in hospital, and daily reports of deaths of people who have become sick with Covid-19 are now the norm.
Officials are continuing to urge people to wear masks, get vaccinated, and stay home if they are sick.
The prime minister has said these are the three things today's announcement will focus on, and there won't be a return to the red level of the traffic light system.
University of Otago immunologist Dianne Sika-Paotonu said while people might want the pandemic to be over, it isn't going anywhere, and the wider spread of the new variants is causing devastating results.
"We've got approximately 100 deaths associated with the pandemic still being reported each week, and unfortunately this is likely to continue."
"Higher transmissibility [in the new variants] means more cases of Covid-19, which leads to more people who are unwell - more people ending up in hospital ICUs and sadly dying."
The most vulnerable were being hit the hardest, especially older people, she told Morning Report.
University of Otago immunologist Dr Dianne Sika-Paotonu. Photo: Supplied/ University of Otago
"At a time when our hospital and support systems and primary care are under a lot of pressure the implications are not just for those with Covid-19 but also for others that may need help for at this time for other illnesses.
"Remember that we have lots of groups around us who are vulnerable and are at risk of being adversely impacted and affected ... this does include those who are immunocompromised, but also our Māori and our Pasifika communities as well."
Dr Sika-Paotonu expected the new government measures to help combat the spread of the virus would include wider access to free Rapid antigen tests (RATs) and masks, and said disease experts were also particularly interested in whether access to booster vaccines would be expanded, and a stronger mandate for mask wearing in schools introduced.
Principals' Federation president Cherie Taylor-Patel said better access to masks and RATs "would be a good start".
But what they needed most was specific guidance from the ministries of health and education about the measures schools could take if they were hit hard by a Covid-19 outbreak, including whether schools could protectively close for a few days.
"The messaging to date has been try and keep the school open at all costs, but we've seen principals around the country do a range of things to try and manage the waves of Covid, the waves of winter illness, and the shortage of staff.
"I think we're going to see principals turn to more systemic solutions that will work for their school context, things like short-term lockdowns, having regular rostering of year groups away, or hybrid learning options that they can switch to with minimal disruption ... some schools are already doing that."
Schools that made masks compulsory had seen less illness, Taylor-Patel said.
Staff in one Ōtautahi school that had mandated masks for children in years 4 to 6, but not the younger pupils, noticed dramatically less spread of Covid-19 among the older students.
"What is missing at the moment is the guidelines, the evidence-based information from health, and recommendations and support from those two ministries to give principals support that they're making the right call for their communities... [principals] are not health experts."
