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A public health expert says New Zealand should be more worried about visitors from the U.S, as a Covid-19 super-variant surges through that country.

Our Government has chosen not to follow the lead of other western nations in requiring pre-departure tests for people arriving from China. Instead, travellers are encouraged to be tested if they arrive here with symptoms.

Auckland University public health associate professor Sir Colin Tukuitonga says more focus should be on the new XBB.1.5 variant prevalent in the U.S.

He says it's fast-spreading and it's now causing three quarters of all cases in New Jersey, New York and New England.

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