After months of lockdown and two years of closed borders, New Zealand is preparing to open up and live with Covid-19 - but, just as the Government announced plans for the future, a new variant called Omicron has emerged, and appears to be the most infectious yet. What does this variant mean for the future of the pandemic and New Zealand's fight against Covid? In this episode of Science Digest, Dr Michelle Dickinson talks to Cambridge University clinical virologist Dr Chris Smith about what the UK is seeing from their Omicron outbreak, and to Otago University's Dr Dianne Sika-Paotonu about what New Zealanders can do to stay safe.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.