The alert level system is on the verge of being phased out. The government has established a new traffic light system of limitations that would take the place of the alert level framework after the country achieves 90 percent immunisation rates in all regions.
The system would minimize the need for practically all lockdowns and would typically keep schools open at all time, allowing for far greater flexibility than alert level 3. Auckland will be lifted from lockdown after all three District Health Boards (DHBs) have vaccinated 90 percent of its eligible population.
How will the system operate?
Schools would reopen at the end of each traffic light cycle.
A “green light” would imply that almost no limitations on travel, gatherings, or company operations would exist. Face masks are advised but not essential, and some QR scanning is required.
Venues and stores that employ vaccination certificates will not face gathering limitations, while those that do not will suffer the same restrictions as at level 2 — a 100-person cap.
The green light option would be employed during periods of isolated Covid-19 distribution. The “orange light” would activate if a higher degree of community transmission was attained or if there were active clusters of the virus in more than one region.
What is the orange setting going to entail?
Orange is activated when community transmission increases in tandem with increased burden on the health system. “The whole health system is concentrating resources in areas where they can be managed — primary care, public health, and hospitals. Increasing the danger for vulnerable people.”
Naturally, record keeping and scanning will be necessary, and facial coverings will be mandated on aircraft, public transportation, taxis, shops, and public events, as well as promoted everywhere. Public facilities, as well as shops, will be open with capacity restrictions based on a 1m separation.
Workplaces and educational institutions will remain open while public health measures are implemented. Outdoor community gatherings that meet specific criteria will be permitted.
What does Red Light mean?
Action is required to safeguard the health system, which is facing an unsustainable level of hospitalizations. Maintaining records and wearing masks are necessary; public facilities are limited to 100 persons; retail establishments are permitted with distance; and working from home is encouraged. With vaccination certificates, hospitality, meetings, events, and gyms are permitted to have a maximum capacity of 100 people.
When not in use, hospitality is contactless only, meetings are limited to ten people, and events and gyms are unavailable. Ardern stated that vaccination recipients and the majority of companies that rely on vaccine certificates, with the exception of retail where consumers can disassociate themselves, will be able to continue regularly under the system.
Consideration was given to moving between levels based on vaccination coverage, health system capability, testing, contact tracing, and Covid transmission. Localized lockdowns will continue to be implemented, as will vaccination certificates on a regular basis. “Vaccine certificates will grant greater freedoms at each level, and higher levels will incorporate further public health safeguards to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 and prevent the virus’s spread,” Ardern added.
“If you are not vaccinated, there will be everyday things you will miss out on,” Ardern said. “The new Covid-19 Protection Framework sets a pathway forward that rewards the rapidly growing number of vaccinated New Zealanders with more freedoms to go about their lives safely,” Ardern said.
Ardern stated that despite limits, Delta made it difficult to sustain the elimination plan. She explained that the vaccination represented a novel instrument that might “as we gradually and carefully open up”.
“Our plan will do things differently…our plan is to minimise and protect.” The Alert Level system had been in place since the epidemic began in 2020, as Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern stated in a special address to the public days before the first state-wide lockdown.
Ardern announced earlier this month that vaccination certificates will be used this summer to allow large-scale events to take place. They would serve as confirmation of complete immunisation status, indicating the individual presented less danger.