The South continued its run of days with double-digit new community cases of Covid-19 at the weekend.
There were 56 new cases reported on Saturday and 41 yesterday, making it five days in a row that new cases have been below 100.
The rolling seven-day average of new reported cases in Otago and Southland is 74; a fortnight ago it was 155.
The Ministry of Health reported 13 further deaths at the weekend of people who had Covid-19: one of those people was from the Southern area.
The continuing decline in new cases will add weight to the argument for Covid-19 public health precautions to either be eliminated entirely or eased.
The Cabinet meets today, and whether to maintain New Zealand’s current "Orange" status on the traffic light Covid management system or go to "Green" is on the agenda.
The regulations enabling the current Covid-19 restrictions are due to expire this week and Parliament would need to vote to extend them if that was Cabinet’s decision.
Parliament resumes tomorrow after an adjournment, but the death of the Queen has added a complication to that: the House is now scheduled to hold a special debate tomorrow to mark the sovereign’s death and then adjourn for the rest of the week.
Last week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the Cabinet would need to balance health concerns with the public’s desire for a return to something close to normality.
"I understand that but one of the things about Covid is that it will not be behind us. It will have ebbs and flows and we have already seen that and we have always said it is as much as possible about trying to move with those and take people with you.
"The health advice is really important to us, as is how do he help people with the ongoing endurance that is Covid."
Covid in 2022 did not present nearly the same management challenges as the pandemic disease had in 2020 or 2021, Ms Ardern said.
"We now have a highly-vaccinated population and the immunity that comes from having had it, so it will keep getting easier."
