Dr Ashley Bloomfield says health authorities will be keeping a "watching brief" on the new XE Covid variant which could possibly be more transmissible than Omicron.
In a recent report by the World Health Organization, it said it was monitoring the new variant, which is believed to be 10% more transmissible than the BA.2 Omicron subvariant currently sweeping New Zealand.
"Early-day estimates indicate a community growth rate advantage of 10% as compared to BA.2," the new WHO report said.
"However this finding requires further confirmation.
"XE belongs to the Omicron variant until significant differences in transmission and disease characteristics, including severity, may be reported."
The new variant is a "recombination" of Omicron's BA.1 and BA.2 variants, meaning the two have merged.
It has been detected in the UK and Thailand.
Speaking to TV3 this morning, the Director-General of Health said XE was something to keep an eye on.
"It's certainly something we need to keep a watching brief on and one of the things about XE is it's actually a combination of the two Omicron sub-variants the BA.1 and BA.2," Bloomfield said.
"These viruses are constantly exchanging genetic material. So the XE variant seems to be maybe about 10 percent more infectious than this BA.2 variant that we have quite widely spread across the country at the moment."
He said NZ's Omicron settings were there to use if the new variant emerged in New Zealand and indeed was easily spread.
"At the moment what we would want to look at for this variant, but also any new variant really, is what are the characteristics of it that would mean we would have to use some of the measures we've used in the past."
From today vaccine passes don't have to be used in New Zealand, and many vaccine mandate requirements have ended.
Gathering limits for outdoor events were recently ditched, and the indoor limit increased to 200.
QR code scanning is no longer required.
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