It was a beautiful day in Te Whanganui-a-Tara yesterday -- and the small city beach at Oriental Bay was crowded with people seeking relief from the heat.

But masks and physical distancing were largely absent.

There were similar scenes in Australia late last year and that country is now weeks ahead of New Zealand in its Omicron outbreak.

Māni Dunlop asks Deakin University professor of epidemiology Catherine Bennett about what we could expect, what works, and what restrictions were worth perservering with.