Once the envy of the world for its handling of the pandemic, New Zealand is now preparing its health system for an influx of Covid-19 patients as it pivots away from its elimination strategy.

Health ministry modelling forecasts more than 5,000 cases per week in the Auckland and Northland regions next year, even assuming 90% of the eligible population is vaccinated, health minister Andrew Little said on Thursday. The figure does not include the rest of the country, where modelling is still being conducted...