"Prepare, don't panic" over the coronavirus outbreak, public heath professor Michael Baker of Otago University said after the first case of the virus in New Zealand was confirmed this week.
The confirmation saw chaos as public flock to some supermarkets to stock up on essentials.
"The response has been really excellent to this particular case," Dr Baker told TVNZ1's Q+A with Jack Tame today.
"This is the most serious pandemic threat for a century. Things like social distancing measures is not something we're used to but you'll see this rolled out.
"We bought time by keeping the virus out to this point, now we should be having conversations about far more imaginative approaches to this risk."
Professor Baker said New Zealand was one of the only places that could approach the idea of creating a 'safe haven' for the vulnerable.
"You could say [it's] radical, but I think more sensible," he said.
"The infection here does have a fatality risk which is hovering around one per cent, but it's much higher for older people, around 15 per cent for people over 18, about 10 per cent for people with underlying illnesses so these are very vulnerable groups.
"We don't have a vaccine, we don't have antivirals, so we need to think in more creative ways.
"We say prepare, don't panic. Get to know your neighbours, particularly people living on their own."
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