Covid-19 NZ: Government removes vaccination pass, most vaccination mandates, and outdoor meeting limit

The government has substantially violated the Covid-19 rules, eliminating vaccination pass requirements, most vaccination mandates, QR code scanning and outdoor meeting boundaries.

Businesses can still use vaccine passes if they wish, but passes are not required to operate with indoor guests.

Vaccination mandates will be reduced to cover only health, old-age care, corrections and border workers, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced.

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The government has also abolished all outdoor meeting limits and doubled the indoor meeting limit from 100 to 200.

QR code scanning is also deleted. Masks will no longer be required in outdoor spaces.

This is all under the “red” framework of the traffic light system in which New Zealand is currently staying.

The mandate removal and the end of the vaccination pass will take effect from April 5, while the other changes will take effect from midnight on Friday.

Ardern said the government did not expect to see a stream of cases as a result of the sweeping changes, as most kiwis had already been vaccinated – and many of the unvaccinated would have caught Covid-19. The changes to collect the limits have recognized how little infection has occurred there.

“To date, we have more than 500,000 reported cases of Covid-19 and expert models say there may have been 1.7 million actual infections. This figure, coupled with 95 per cent of New Zealanders being fully vaccinated, means we now have a high level of collective Have immunity, “Ardern said.

“New Zealanders have worked incredibly hard to get through this pandemic and as a result of these efforts we are now in a position to move forward and change the way we do things.

“Like many other countries, we retain a small number of mandates targeted to keep our Covid-19 frontline staff safe and ensure that our most vulnerable, such as those in nursing homes or those with disabilities, are protected from the virus,” Ardern said.

If the country moves to orange – which it could do in early April – then all other rules other than mask requirements will be abolished.

“We maintain the traffic light framework to provide lasting protection in the event of a new variant or in future floods, but our plan is to go down to orange and then eventually move to green if it is safe.”

Ardern said the country will review its traffic light attitude on April 4.

The government was under increasing pressure to abide by the Covid-19 rules, even as hospitalizations and deaths increased.

Fall numbers have started to fall in Auckland, with the Ministry of Health believing that the Omicron wave has reached a peak there. Hospitalizations are generally new cases, which means the government expects them to fall soon at some point.

But Health Director General Ashley Bloomfield has warned that future Omicron waves are possible.

Ardern said the government needs to maintain the traffic light system to protect the health care system and keep New Zealand prepared for possible future waves or variants.

But she said changes in the framework would be appropriate because the government now knew much more – also that hospitality did not really cause much infection.

All of New Zealand has been in the “red” traffic light setting since Omicron entered the community on January 23rd.

Red usually allows for normal life for the vaccinated, with seat requirements and meeting limits in places but no restrictions on travel.

It was harder on the non-vaccinated, with restaurants and other places that wanted to operate with indoor guests, to use the vaccine pass, which means the staff also got vaccinated.

This is separate from the more directly government-imposed vaccination mandates applied to health workers, frontier workers and teachers.

Ardern said the Covid-19 response was very successful but “bloody difficult”. New Zealand has had fewer deaths than most other nations, with a general decline in mortality from all causes, while this mortality rate has increased in many peer nations.