Government not considering alert level 4 ‘circuit-breaker lockdown’ despite calls from health experts

The Government isn’t considering an alert level 4 lockdown for Auckland, despite several epidemiologists and modelers calling for a so-called “circuit-breaker” lockdown due to the increasing number of cases, Newshub reveals. “A move back to alert level 4 is the best and probably only chance of reversing these highly-concerning trends that are all moving in the wrong direction,” University of Otago epidemiologist Dr Amanda Kvalsvig said on Wednesday. “Vaccination is not going to happen fast enough to reverse these trends and we need to buy time.” But COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said such a move back to alert level 4 isn’t something the Government is considering, as “the alert level system that we have relies on a very high degree of voluntary compliance.”