Managing the epidemic has required the fast escalation of measures to stop the spread of the virus, for primarily health reasons. The step down has to be prompt for different reasons. Each additional day has significant economic costs for New Zealanders. Delays which can be avoided also risk undermining the social consensus we need to maintain. We considered whether to allow this bill a select committee process; this would have either delayed level 2 or risked a level 2 without the more nuanced enforcement powers that we believe are warranted for an interregnum. We concluded that passing it under urgency is necessary for New Zealand to move to alert level 2 at 11.59 p.m. on Wednesday.