Omicron outbreak: NZ moving to Phase 2 at 11.59pm on Tuesday

New Zealand will move to Phase 2 of the Government’s Omicron response from 11.59pm on Tuesday February 15, as daily case numbers continue to climb.

On Monday afternoon, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed the country would transition from Phase 1 to 2.

In Phase 2, rapid antigen testing (RATs) may be used more widely, there would be shorter isolation times, and digital communication with close contacts or contacts would come into play.

Cases and their household contacts would now need to isolate for 10 days, as opposed to 14.

“We’ve been taking a look at a close analysis of what’s happening with transmission of Omicron among our close contacts and our households. We’ve seen that 90 per cent of household contacts who are going to test positive do so in those first 10 days,” Ardern said.

"So, there's good grounds for the changes that we're choosing to make now."

Read more: What happens under Phase 2?

Fully vaccinated critical employees in certain sectors, like food suppliers and healthcare providers, would also be able to use RATs to return to work if they became a close contact, were asymptomatic, and tested negative for Covid-19.

Ardern said, for workers who were part of the scheme, they would be able to go to a local health provider, like a vaccination centre, to get a pack of 10 RATs.

"In some cases, rapid antigen tests are being supplied directly to large-scale critical workforces."

She said 7.2 million RATs were currently in the country, and more were on the way in the next few weeks.

As for how long the country could remain in Phase 2, Ardern said it was likely to be in place while New Zealand was seeing up to 5000 cases a day.

She said this threshold would continue to be reviewed.

The Government had previously signalled it would be moving to Phase 2 once case numbers had reached about 1000 a day.

Phase 2’s approach differed from Phase 1 in that, for the latter, health officials still had the capacity to continue trying to stamp out Omicron outbreaks. Under Phase 2, there would be a greater emphasis on the self-management of Covid-19 cases.

Ardern said the phase also aimed to protect vulnerable communities by identifying those who were at greater risk of severe illness from Omicron.

She said the increase in Covid-19 cases seen in the past few days was expected. However, she warned the country was early in its Omicron outbreak, and that cases would grow further.

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said the aim was to keep the peak of the Omicron outbreak as low as possible to prevent widespread disruption to the health system and critical services.

As of Monday, 39 people were in hospital with Covid-19. No one was in an intensive care or high dependency unit.

Earlier on Monday, National leader Christopher Luxon said it was time for the country to move to Phase 2.

“[Omicron] is widespread in the community. Those cases will be under-reported relative to what’s happening because they’ll be from a few days ago,” he said.

Luxon said businesses were finding the ongoing pandemic disruptions challenging, and the focus needed to be on minimising Omicron’s impact.

“Our challenge… is that when you don’t have rapid antigen tests and widespread supply, you can’t just walk into a business, do a test this morning, and find out whether you’re good to go.”

ACT leader David Seymour said he welcomed Phase 2's reduced isolation times. But, he said the lack of RATs was "a failing of this Government's".

“It’s not enough to say critical workers have access to the tests. People shouldn’t have to hope they’ll be accepted by the Government or its arcane rules to be considered critical," Seymour said.

"People should be able to test and leave isolation if they are negative so they can get back to their lives.”

Last month, National, ACT, and some businesses accused the Government of "commandeering" RATs. Bloomfield said the Government was not seizing stock from private businesses.

“We have discussed with our three main suppliers, which are Abbott, Roche, and Siemens, that forward orders of tests that haven’t yet arrived in the country, that those be consolidated into the Government’s stock so that is there for the whole country including private businesses,” Bloomfield said at the time.