However epidemiologist Michael Baker says our plummeting case numbers — the seven-day average of new community cases is at 99 — is good news. Auckland should remain in the red setting until then at least, the University of Otago public health professor said. He didn't expect to see the impact of the traffic light system on case numbers until later this week, Baker said. He thought Auckland could move out of the red light setting if case numbers continued to fall through to the end of the week, Baker said. But regions with low vaccination rates, such as include Northland, Tairāwhiti, Lakes and Whanganui, should remain in the most restricted settings for now, he said.

Source: New Zealand Herald December 11, 2021 22:50 UTC