Omicron may alter traffic light settings
Health officials may suggest the Government need to adjust the Covid-19 traffic light system to help manage the spread of Omicron once it is in the community.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern labelled the spread of the highly tranmissible variant in the community as ‘‘inevitable’’ and ‘‘a case of when, not if’’ on Monday.
And when that happens, health experts anticipate hospital emergency departments will become ‘‘utterly swamped’’ within two to four weeks, Stuff reported previously.
Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield told RNZ’s Morning Report yesterday the traffic light system had served the country well over the summer break, which was evident by the decreasing number of cases in the community Delta outbreak.
However, it relies on vaccination and the use of vaccine certificates, and ‘‘Omicron does escape vaccinations’’.
‘‘That’s one of the areas we are in the process of providing further advice, about whether we need to strengthen or adjust some of the settings in the different traffic light levels to take account of Omicron.’’
Meanwhile, 43 of the 67 people identified as close contacts of an
MIQ worker who tested positive for Omicron last week have returned negative tests. That includes the worker’s household contacts, which Bloomfield said was ‘‘a good sign’’.
However, contact tracers are still trying to contact some people who shared a bus with the worker. ‘‘We’re putting in every effort to make sure we find all of them.’’
He added that the people on the bus with the MIQ worker were low risk because of the size of the bus.
Bloomfield said more cases of Omicron were being caught at the border due to sizeable outbreaks overseas.
‘‘The pool of potential cases is bigger,’’ he said.
Additionally, people were at risk of catching Covid-19 while en route to New Zealand due to the number of people travelling from countries where there are large Omicron outbreaks.
The traffic light settings are due to be reviewed this week for the first time in 2022.
Northland is the only region to remain at red, as it has still not reached the milestone of 90 per cent vaccination first doses for eligible adults, which every other region has achieved.
In its review, the Government will consider whether Northland should move to orange restrictions and whether any changes are due in other regions.