Experts are stressing that the Government did the right thing by ordering Auckland into lockdown - even if this latest episode proves to have been a short-lived scare. Cabinet ministers are today set to decide whether current alert levels should be changed or stay in place, with Covid-19 Minister Chris Hipkins just revealing that two further community cases have been confirmed. Covid-19 modeller Professor Shaun Hendy said health officials faced a situation like Auckland's August cluster when they discovered the latest community cases. Where did the lack of further community cases leave decision-makers? At the same time, he added, New Zealand had spent little time under lockdown, compared with other OECD nations.

Source: New Zealand Herald February 16, 2021 23:25 UTC