An expert is warning against complacency in the fight against Covid-19 as the number of hospitalisations spikes.
As a second wave of Omicron takes hold, Auckland University Immunologist Anna Brooks is urging Kiwis to keep up the fight against virus by wearing masks.
She also wants the second booster shot to be made more widely available to help stop the virus’ spread.
“We just need to come together as a country and say, ‘Let’s do this, let’s get through winter. Mask up.”
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said today she anticipated a “tough winter” with Covid cases spiking and winter illnesses putting pressure on the health system.
She said she never stopped caring about Covid and has never stopped receiving the case numbers.
The increase in cases was predicted, and is also being seen all over the world.
“We anticipated we would have additional variants, and winter would be difficult … in the UK and Europe they are also seeing an increase of cases of up to 30 per cent, and that’s at a time without winter, so they are looking to us to see what to expect,” Ardern told TVNZ.
New Zealand had a raft of measures other countries did not have – for example, mandatory mask wearing and both positive cases and their household contacts isolating if they were sick.
However, that only worked if people played ball, she said.