People with flu are being urged to put themselves into isolation

A top epidemiologist says lessons learned from Covid should be applied across winter months.

Hospital emergency departments are buckling under a flood of patients with respiratory illnesses.

Otago University's Michael Baker says international advice for influenza - is to isolate for five days to ease transmission.

He says it needs wide support, but shouldn't be mandated as it's too hard to enforce.

But he says employers, the public sector and regulators all need to be on the same page, promoting people to stay home if sick.