NZ moves to a ‘traffic light” Covid Protection Framework

Wellington, Nov 29th : .New Zealand moves to "traffic lights" Covid-19 Protection Framework Friday.

Prime Minister Jacinda Adern announced Monday the levels at which New Zealands different parts will move forwardNorthland, Auckland and Rotorua Lakes Districts.Kawerau, Whakatane and Opotiki Districts.Gisborne District, Wairoa Districts.Rangitikei and Whanganui Districts.

The rest of the North Island will move in at Orange.Ardern announced at a press conference.

She said that the entire South Island will move into Orange.However, she added that a cautious approach will be taken as the country transitions to the new framework.

Prime Minister: "On Friday, the traffic lights will be turned on for all New Zealand." She stated that New Zealand has among the highest rates for vaccination and the lowest death and case rates in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Ardern stated that the certainty and stability of traffic lights will replace Alert Levels sudden lockdowns or restrictions.He also said that schools will remain open at all colours and businesses will be protected by My Vaccine Passes.

She stated that "Aside from the existing Auckland boundary, it will lift on January 17th," and that there will not be any new restrictions on travel between regions.Red is the highest level of the new system.

Auckland has moved in at Red to be the epicenter for the current outbreak.Red provides additional protection against Covid by requiring both Vaccine passes and some capacity limits for the most-high-risk settings.

This is because if someone has Covid it will be harder for the virus to spread among fewer people at a distance.Ardern stated "As we observe what happens to cases, vaccination levels, we can look at moving regions down to Orange over the course of time, where there is no gathering limit for those who are using vaccine pass," she said.

New Zealand reported 182 new cases of Covid Delta variant in their community on Monday.This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 8.298.It said that 92 percent of eligible New Zealanders have received their first dose, and that 85 percent are fully vaccinated.int/sk #Covid #Framework.