The research, just published in the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, offers some fascinating new insights into how Kiwis view the tough measures at the core of our elimination strategy. It found virtually all people thought the physical distancing measures that came with each alert level were effective. The study noted that the high levels of support for distancing measures were consistent with what had been in other countries like Australia, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. Perhaps more concerningly, it also found that people's physical distancing - and their support for doing so - fell away as alert levels declined. "If people have mild symptoms they may be more likely to ignore those - especially in the lower alert levels."

Source: New Zealand Herald February 21, 2021 01:07 UTC