"The Prime Minister said tens of thousands of people would die if we do nothing. I don't think there was any plausible scenario given what we know now about the virus in general - especially in New Zealand - where that would happen."

Seymour said the rate of new cases in New Zealand started flattening off within days of the lockdown being put in palce and before the lockdown's effect had shown up in New Zealand's statistics.

He said the economic impact of the lockdown has been worse than the virus itself, which has so far claimed the lives of 17 New Zealanders and infected more than 1400.

"If we know that the virus was not as bad as we thought, and the lockdown is worse than we thought, then the right thing to do is to actually change the balance between the lockdown measures and the virus," he said.

"I think the Government has been frankly a bit slow to be nimble."

Wiles, an Associate Professor at the University of Auckland, said Seymour "isn't the only person who has fallen into the trap of thinking that the virus isn't that big a deal".

She told Newshub it makes her wonder where that information is coming from, as COVID-19 cases surpass 2.7 million across the globe while coronavirus-related deaths reach more than 190,000.

"Around the world we are seeing health systems overwhelmed and people dying. Not just the elderly and the vulnerable, but the young and healthy, and many healthcare workers. In fact, in many countries the number of dead is being massively undercounted."