The Government's decision on whether to relax one of New Zealand's last Covid-19 rules is not "clear cut", Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says.
Later today, ministers are reviewing whether to keep or modify the country's last remaining public health restrictions on Covid-19 — including the mandatory seven-day isolation for people who test positive. A decision will be announced soon after.
Some health experts have urged the Government to keep the remaining rules whilst other countries like Australia and the UK have dropped them.
Doctors are concerned the cost will be a barrier to some people seeking medical treatment when they need it. (Source: 1News)
Speaking to Breakfast, Hipkins also confirmed that a minor Cabinet reshuffle would happen today, with the fate of Stuart Nash's portfolios to be announced.
On health, he said the Government's decisions around Covid-19 would continue to be "finely balanced" as the virus receded into the background for many Kiwis.
When asked, Hipkins did not rule out dropping mandatory isolation and instead replacing them with health recommendations.
"It's a finely balanced issue," he said.
"Obviously, you know, restrictions have an impact on people's ability to go to work clearly, but people going to work with Covid-19 also has an impact and that it can mean more people end up being off work because they end up getting Covid-19.
New Zealand might be in for a series of smaller waves of outbreaks. (Source: 1News)
"One of the pressures we had last year was that a number of kids went to school with Covid-19 and gave it to their teachers.
"We ended up short of teachers, which means kids ended up being at home for longer, which means parents couldn't go to work.
"All of these things are the sorts of things that we have to work our way through. It's not a clear-cut decision."
He said Cabinet would consider case numbers, impacts on the health system, and the disruption to people's ability to participate in the economy when making its decision.
The Ministry of Health is also expected to release its latest week-to-week report of Covid-19 case numbers today
Daily figures up until yesterday showed a relatively stable trend of new cases being reported to authorities in the past week.
Covid self-isolation should be an 'expectation'
Otago University epidemiologist and public health expert Michael Baker told Breakfast that there were "big gains" for New Zealand if Kiwis stayed home when they were sick.
Benefits included reducing the strain on the health system and killing fewer people prematurely from preventable infections like Covid-19, but also the flu.
"When you have those symptoms, you should stay at home and I think that's one of the big lessons from the pandemic."
Baker said New Zealand had already had a "very vigorous response" to Covid-19, but that he is reluctant to support an easing of isolation rules.
"The core of that is vaccines and boosters being freely available. And hopefully, all eligible New Zealanders will take advantage of that.
"But we have to think about the other measures as well. One of the big things we've learned from Covid-19 is that if you have a respiratory illness, you shouldn't go to work, go to school, go to social events, and spread that infection around.
"It might be Covid-19 that you've got. It might take you a few days to confirm that."
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins rolled up his sleeves in Upper Hutt today to get his shots and encourage other Kiwis to do the same. (Source: 1News)
He said the legal requirement to self-isolate added "considerable weight" to people's judgment calls about whether to stay at home.
"It does add considerable weight to know that this is an expectation. In many ways, it's just how we treat the roads. To make roads safe, we have laws and regulations and that way, we can share roads in relative safety."
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