The consequences of any premature changes to border restrictions would be dire

The Local Democracy Reporting Service reports Counties Manukau DHB modelling predicts at least a thousand Covid-19 cases a week in South Auckland, if border and public health restrictions are lifted.

That's even with a 90 per cent vaccination rate.

Otago University Immunologist Dr Dianne Sika-Paotonu says a high degree of risk persists for everyone - but especially for our most vulnerable.

She says if we're not careful, we'll be at serious risk of allowing our health system to become overwhelmed...given it was already under strain before the pandemic.