With the number of infections stabilising and key restrictions being abolished, the COVID-19 Response Minister role could soon be disestablished, says Minister of Health Andrew Little.
Speaking to Newshub Nation on Saturday morning, Little acknowledged that the role of COVID-19 Response Minister, which is currently held by Chris Hipkins, could soon be absorbed by the Health portfolio.
"In the end it's a question for the Prime Minister and Cabinet to work out - at what point do you start saying [to] particular ministers and their agencies, 'right, you're now going to roll that into everything else that you do'," Little said.
It follows several significant changes to the Government's COVID-19 response overnight, with QR code scanning requirements removed and gathering limits doubled - and in some cases, removed altogether.
The recently announced changes to the traffic light framework came into effect at 11:59pm on Friday. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern earlier this week said this "simplified" system was aimed at targeting restrictions "at those activities that reduce transmission the most".
Caps on outdoor gatherings are now a thing of the past, with masks also no longer required during these events. There are still restrictions indoors however, such as the need to be seated and separated at hospitality venues - but gathering limits have jumped from 100 to 200.
Speaking on Wednesday, Ardern said the amendments won't have any "material impact" on the health system. It echoes earlier comments made by Little, who noted that the modelling indicates that lifting or easing restrictions will not lead to a substantial increase in COVID-19 patients being hospitalised.
Speaking to Newshub Nation, Little acknowledged that the Government's response is gradually transitioning to a "learn to live with it" approach.
"I think we're getting to a point now where we just learn to live with COVID and the way we deal with, manage and respond to COVID becomes business as usual," he said.
Little was also quick to praise his colleague Hipkins, saying he had done a "brilliant job" in the role as COVID-19 Response Minister, alongside his other ministerial duties. The portfolio, which is separate from the Health Minister portfolio, was established as a role dedicated to all aspects of the pandemic response.
Hipkins, who is also the Minister of Education, initially picked up the role as Health Minister role following David Clark's resignation in July 2020 - however, he was appointed COVID-19 Response Minister that November, with Little assuming the Health mantle.
"We've been well-served by Chris Hipkins as the COVID-19 Response Minister. He's done a brilliant job and I could not be [both] Minister of Health and COVID-19 Response Minister. We're both dealing with the health system," Little continued.
"But we are getting to a point where there will have to be a reintegration."
Little also addressed the current backlog of elective surgeries throughout the country. Elective surgeries have been temporarily halted throughout the pandemic to ensure there are enough hospital beds available for COVID-19 patients. In some cases, District Health Boards (DHBs) have decided to postpone surgeries and reduce the number of operations due to staff shortages. Earlier this month, Canterbury District Health Board (DHB) announced it was postponing most elective surgeries due to COVID-related understaffing.
Last month, two Auckland hospitals called off large numbers of planned operations due to dropping numbers of nurses and rising rates of infections - meaning hundreds of people have missed out on their procedures.
Little admitted that the cancellation and postponement of surgical procedures has posed a "major challenge", and health officials are now determining a plan to ensure doctors can catch up with the backlog.
"That's a major challenge and there's a lot of work going on right now. We stopped a lot of planned care so we could make beds available for COVID patients… we're starting to see the numbers, at least in Auckland and hospitals, stabilise and go down. Other parts of the country, I think it will be a couple of weeks before we see a major downturn in those numbers," he said.
"There's a lot of work going on within the ministry, with DHBs to the senior specialists, working out what we do now to make sure that those people who have waited for their surgeries will get those as quickly as possible.
"We had to have a plan to respond - we've got to have a plan for the recovery phase as well and that's underway."
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