A Covid-19 modeller says it looks as though Delta is here to stay, but New Zealand shouldn't let it spread too far.
The virus is continuing to spread in the community, and two people have now died in the current outbreak.
"It does look like delta is here, and it's here to stay," University of Canterbury professor Michael Plank Morning Report.
"But it's really important that we don't just wave the white flag and let it rip, because that will be disastrous."
Plank said surrendering would be disastrous on a number of fronts, including for the health system.
"What worries me is that we end up in a situation here that we've seen overseas where we have immense pressure on our healthcare systems, that we really struggle to cope with, and the impact of that."
That doesn't fall evenly, it does fall on those under vaccinated groups, and of course, if you have a healthcare system that's struggling, it means that people with other health care needs can't get treatment."
He said New Zealand needs to do everything possible to control the spread, and keep community transmission as low as possible.
He also said he is not sure if staying in alert level 4 for longer could have prevented the virus spreading in the way it has.
"Given the communities that it's spreading in, the fact that there's quite a lot of undetected transmission, it could easily be that even within another week or two at level 4 we would still have ended up in a similar situation to what we are now."
