Alert level ‘2.5’ suggested for open border

New Zealanders will likely have to get used to more public health measures to limit the risk of Covid-19 spreading as overseas travel cautiously returns, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield says.

During a Covid vaccine rollout update yesterday, Bloomfield said a higher baseline level of behaviours to protect public health would be needed as part of moves to open up to a wider group of low-risk countries, let alone opening beyond that.

He didn’t give details of what that might mean, but mentioned masks a few times and suggested an alert level 2.5 might be needed as a ‘‘baseline’’.

At alert level 2, life in New Zealand was ‘‘pretty much back to normal’’, apart from the requirement to wear a mask on public transport, Bloomfield said.

‘‘It may well be that we need to be more at like a 2.5 level as our baseline, alongside vaccination, as part of the protections we need in place routinely to be able to open the border, and we’re putting some thinking into that,’’ Bloomfield said.

At alert level 2 people are supposed to stay at least two metres away from others in public and in shops, and at least 1m away in most other places, including at work, gyms and restaurants. No more than 100 people are allowed at social gatherings.

‘‘There’s no doubt that having as much of the population vaccinated as possible is key to us being able to open the border.’’

But looking out three to five years, after Covid-19 had moved to being a more endemic disease, it would routinely be in countries around the world, he said.

That meant New Zealand would need good public health systems in place for identification, contact tracing and follow-up.

College of GPs president Dr Samantha Murton, who took part in the briefing, said a strategy was needed for the ‘‘occasional (Covid case) that could cause havoc’’.

‘‘If we’re all vaccinated and Covid still comes in occasionally we need to be picking it up and making sure we are alert all the time, so that it doesn’t spread around the community, it doesn’t jeopardise our health system in some way, or we’ve got people who’ve got Covid who are ending up in hospital without knowing about it,’’ Murton said.