The government is announcing details of its Covid-19 Protection Framework, which could involve rolling out a ‘traffic-light’ system across the country to contain the spread of the virus.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins and Associate Health Minister Peeni Henare are addressing the media.

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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says today’s announcements will be in three parts. First the new framework, then the economic support package for Auckland businesses and then a plan to accelerate Māori vaccination rates.

Ardern says the focus on elimination kept New Zealand free from Covid-19 for much of the past 18 months when the population was vulnerable to the virus.

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“While we used to say we need to stay home to save lives, we now need to be vaccinated to save lives,” she says.

“We can rightfully be proud of what our world-leading response has achieved, but two things have changed since then. The first is that Delta has made it very hard to maintain our elimination strategy … but right as our long-standing strategy was challenged we also had a new tool,” Ardern says.

“That tool is the vaccine. The vaccine we are using in New Zealand is safe and effective … it also helps protect everyone. The more people who are vaccinated, the harder it is for Covid to spread through communities quickly.”

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Ardern says very few countries have had the opportunity to vaccinate before Covid-19 has been widespread in the community.

The goal now is to minimise, and protect, she says.

“Protection means that we won’t just treat Covid like a seasonal illness, we will protect people from it with vaccination, management, and a response that focuses on minimising the health impacts.”

She says we must also keep moving forward.

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After looking at all of the evidence, the government has set a target of 90 percent fully vaccinated in each DHB in New Zealand.

“When every DHB reaches this target, that is when we’ll move into a new framework … the Covid-19 protection framework.”

She says it will mean three settings – green, orange and red. There are three big differences from the current alert level system. The first is vaccine certificates.

The second difference is that with those certificates businesses will be able to open and operate at any level.

The third difference is that if cases start to climb in areas with lower vaccination rates in lower-income communities, much more highly targeted and localised lockdowns can be used if needed.

At Red, action will be needed to be taken to protect both at-risk people and protect our health system from an unsustainable number of hospitalisations.

Record keeping and scanning will be required
Face coverings will be mandatory on flights, public transport, in taxis, retail, public venues, recommended whenever leaving the house

Where we can go at Red:

Public facilities — open with up to 100 people, based on 1m distancing
Retail — open with capacity limits based on 1m distancing
Workplaces — working from home encouraged
ECEs, schools, and kura are open with public health measures
Specified outdoor community events — allowed with capacity limits.

At Orange, there will be increasing community transmission that is putting pressure on our health system. The whole of health system will focus its resources, but can continue to manage primary care, public health, and hospitals. There may also be an increasing risk for at-risk people.

Record keeping and scanning will be required
Face coverings will be mandatory on flights, public transport, in taxis, retail, public venues, and encouraged elsewhere

Where we can go at Orange:

Public facilities will be open with capacity limits based on 1m distancing
Retail will be open with capacity limits based on 1m distancing
Education facilities will be open with public health measures in place
Workplaces
Specified outdoor community events
Regional boundary restrictions will not apply.

Green is when there are some Covid-19 cases in the community, and sporadic imported cases. Community transmission will be limited and Covid-19 hospitalisations will be at a manageable level. The Ministry of Health says health system will be ready to respond, including primary care, public health, and hospitals.

Record keeping and scanning will be required
Face coverings are mandatory on flights and encouraged indoors

Where we can go at Green:

Public facilities
Retail
Workplaces
ECEs, schools, kura and tertiary providers
Specified outdoor community events
Regional boundary restrictions will not apply.

Auckland will move into red as soon as the Auckland DHBs hit the 90 percent vaccination target, rather than wait for the rest of the country.

The rest of the country will move all at the same time to “orange” when all DHBs around the country reach the 90 percent target.

At orange, gathering limits can lift.

Places that choose not to use vaccination certificates will either be closed or have public health measures in place, Ardern says.

Green is when there is some Covid in the community but at low levels. Fully vaccinated people can enjoy all events and hospitality and gatherings by showing a vaccine certificate. Premises choosing not to use certificates will face restrictions similar to the current alert level framework.

Covid Update: Friday 22nd October

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