With Auckland dropping to Covid-19 Alert Level 1 this week, face masks will no longer be mandatory on public transport - but some experts are saying they should be.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today that Auckland will join the rest of the country at Level 1 as of 11.59pm on Wednesday.
That means no size limits on gatherings, no physical distancing in bars or restaurants and no requirement to wear a face covering on buses, trains and ferries.
However, Ardern urged people to stay vigilant for symptoms of Covid-19, "and without question, please stay home if you're sick".
An order under the Covid-19 Public Health Response Act 2020 made masks mandatory on public transport at Level 2 and above, but no such order has been made for Level 1.
Lesley Gray, senior lecturer at the Department of Primary Health Care and General Practice at University of Otago, said this afternoon that while a move to Level 1 was the right decision, masks should remain compulsory.
"Given our experience with unanticipated community transmission in August, I do feel that mask wearing on public transport should be required at all Alert Levels," Gray said.
"I have observed that mask wearing on trains (for example) has dropped to very low numbers.
"It is encouraging that around 3 million people have now downloaded the Covid tracer app, however if people are not scanning when entering a business, or signing in if they do not have the app, is a bit like having fly screens on your windows with your doors wide open."
“The better we are at recording our movements, the quicker we can alert possible contacts if we were to have a future community outbreak - maintaining good hand hygiene, covering coughs or sneezes and not becoming complacent are key."
Jacinda Ardern confirmed the news a press conference today. (Source: Other)
Dr Dougal Sutherland, a clinical psychologist at Victoria University of Wellington and Umbrella Wellbeing, said while the shift to Level 1 is a relief for many, Aucklanders should still be wearing face masks as a precaution in high-risk situations.
"The recent period of community transmission in Auckland will hopefully be the trigger for embedding public-health behaviours, such as using QR codes and wearing face coverings, into our everyday lives," Sutherland said.
"For many, the end of our first lockdown period in May was followed by a sense of complacency and return to normal - we didn't fully embrace the need to keep taking extra precautions when out in public.
"The second bout of community transmission in Auckland may well cement in our minds the need for continued caution and wariness, prompts which are necessary if we are to continue to engage in new behaviours like wearing face-coverings.
"Covid-19 has no moral compass - it can infect us no matter whether we think we deserve it or not.
"So we need to pay heed to the memory of what can happen if the virus escapes into the community and use that fear to sustain our safety behaviours."
SHARE ME