Covid-19 Delta outbreak: Today’s case numbers, Cabinet’s last chance to change

Cabinet will today consider case numbers, vaccination rates and the length of time the new traffic light system has been in place as it gets ready to announce what colours the country will be in to welcome the new year.

The decision comes as the number of Covid-19 case numbers has declined in recent days from its 200-plus peak to hovering around the low 100s figure.

Today is Cabinet’s last chance to change traffic light settings until January 17.

The latest numbers are set to be revealed in a statement from the Ministry of Health at 1pm today.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will then unveil Cabinet’s decision at 4pm.

Yesterday there were 103 new cases of Covid-19 in the community – up on Saturday’s tally of 63.

It comes as Auckland business leaders are calling on the government to move the city from the red traffic setting to orange based on the falling case numbers and high vaccination rates.

All Auckland’s DHBs have now reached the 90 per cent double-vaccinated rate.

The Prime Minister told RNZ this morning it was still early days of transitioning into the traffic light system and they wanted to make sure they saw the full impact of that easing.

“We’ve only been in these settings for about 10 days.”

When Cabinet met today, it would receive the additional information from the public health team and consider all views. A decision would then be announced at 4pm.

“We will take an approach that will stand us in good stead. One thing we are mindful of is if you do move too soon you run the risk of escalating cases and you end up in higher restrictions. We want to go the distance.”

Although throughout the pandemic there would be a bit of “going back and forward”, she said.

When Auckland’s border lifted on Wednesday, Ardern encouraged people planning to travel out of the region for the Christmas period to continue to take safety precautions.

However epidemiologist Rod Jackson felt it was too soon to make any changes because 10 days since Freedom Friday wasn’t long enough.

“If we loosen restrictions more we are going to end up going up again by the end of the year.”

Australia was a good indication of what happened when restrictions loosened and case numbers were already rising again in NSW cases and no longer dropping in Victoria.

Bars were the only ones keen to move as most restaurants seemed to be doing okay, he told RNZ.

Te Pūnaha Matatini Covid-19 modeller Professor Michael Plank said the Omicron variant could spread quite quickly so believed there could be a “clear case” for delaying the border reopening from mid-January and keep MIQ in place for longer.

This would give time for New Zealanders to have their booster shots as UK data showed those with two doses and the booster had a much higher level of protection than those with just two doses.

Even if the majority of cases were mild due to the large number of cases likely, it could still put a significant number of people in hospital, he told RNZ.

“The fact that it can spread so quickly and infect people who have been…