A public health professor says the lockdown period is critical for people to change their behaviour and not share the Covid-19 virus.
Professor Michael Baker from Otago University and other health professionals urged the government to implement the level 4 lockdown to break the chain of transmission. It began at 11.59pm on Wednesday.
He told Morning Report the move was further allowing the country to build capacity to stamp out the virus, putting it on a "path of elimination", similar to the one taken by China.
"I know I had my best night's sleep on Wednesday. I was imagining all those unseen chains of transmission around New Zealand that we might have missed gradually getting snuffed out because people are no longer sharing the virus around," he said.
"It's so critical in this period that people change their behaviour and not share this virus."
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