This exposed the country to variants far faster, including the highly transmissible Omicron BA.5 currently wreaking havoc around the country. "The Government really parked the health imperative for solely making decisions back in April when we shifted from red to orange," Ward says. "This week, Minister Megan Woods outright squashed that one. "There's a real reluctance to move to red, simply because it will receive too much pushback. But the Covid Response Minister Ayesha Verrall is confident there are enough public health measures within the orange framework to withstand this winter wave.

Source: New Zealand Herald July 07, 2022 02:10 UTC