An Australian epidemiologist is worried about the spread of Omicron in New Zealand, given two cases of the Covid-19 variant have been active in Auckland's community.
Professor Mary-Louise McLaws from the University of New South Wales told 1News it "just takes one case".
"With Omicron with an even shorter incubation period [than Delta] it will be very difficult to find cases before they've inadvertently passed it on to others."
Her concern comes after UK drum and bass artist Dimension became the first border-related Omicron case to have been out and about in the community. He had not waited for his day 9 test to come back before heading into town.
Out and about in Auckland CBD on Boxing Day and Monday, visiting a jewellers, restaurants, a bar and a nightclub, he now has about 100 close contacts.
An Air New Zealand crew member is the second Omicron case to be out in the community. They tested positive as part of routine surveillance testing on Monday after flying from Sydney on Christmas Eve.
McLaws said although it is still being determined how mild the variant is, it is faster at replicating itself than other variants.
Omicron replicates 70 times faster than Delta, she explained. Delta is 60 per cent more infectious than Alpha, with Omicron even more infectious.
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