Getting the public on board with tougher long-term Covid-19 suggestions could be a challenge

Ashley Bloomfield has suggested moving the country to a baseline of Level 2.5 restrictions, to allow borders to reopen to more low-risk countries.

Those restrictions could be in place for three to five years, while the virus remains a pandemic or epidemic.

Auckland University Professor of Medicine Des Gorman says long-term measures will be needed, but they need to be sustainable and enforceable.

He says the public will comply with masks on planes, trains and buses, tracking apps and vaccine passports -- but won't comply with much stricter rules.