A nationwide lockdown would significantly help hospitals deal with a mass community outbreak of Covid-19.
The country currently has 66 confirmed cases and is at alert level two.
Dr Chris Gale from Otago University's Department of Psychological Medicine says evidence shows our hospitals wouldn't cope if cases surged at a similar rate to Italy.
He told Kate Hawkesby moving up to alert level 4 - an effective lockdown - would be a lifeline for our hospitals.
"To actually slow down the transmission around the community, most people in lockdown would be OK, but that means the health system could cope."
Dr Gale says that there simply wouldn't be enough tests, beds and infrastructure in a worst case scenario like Italy's outbreak.
LISTEN ABOVE
Take your Radio, Podcasts and Music with you
