Professor Michael Baker says the latest alert level tweaks may be “slightly confusing” for Aucklanders, with the new three-step phasing system set to kick in Tuesday night at 11:59pm.
The epidemiologist appeared on 1News Monday night, following the Government’s Covid roadmap announcement which sees Auckland remaining at Alert Level 3, and a new phasing system implemented in order for the region to move down levels.
Phase 1 kicks in from 11.59pm on October 5, and sees outdoor catch-ups with one other household allowed at a limit of 10, with masks to be worn when not eating and distanced while eating.
Dates for Phases 2 and 3 have not yet been announced and are contingent on weekly reviews.
“I think this might be slightly confusing for people because we’ve got the alert level system which has four tiers that’s worked really well,” says Baker.
“And if we look at stage one it's a lot like Alert Level 3 and then stages two and three are really versions of Alert Level 2. So I would have thought it would be simpler to have combined the stages into a revised alert level system.”
Though there were “a lot of positive things in the announcement”, Baker also says a mention of vaccine targets in each phase would have been helpful for people to remain motivated.
“The other thing I think we could have seen here, could have been some flagging of vaccine targets for these different stages or alert level changes just so that Aucklanders can see that their efforts will translate into a change in alert levels,” says Baker.
The PM also announced a roadmap out of lockdown for the region. (Source: Other)
Earlier Monday, Ardern said at the conclusion of the steps “we will then move to a national framework that reflects a more highly vaccinated population, allowing us the ability to deal with riskier settings such as large-scale events with the use of vaccine certificates.”
The rest of New Zealand, barring Waikato, remains at Alert Level 2.
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