Cheung et al have presented influenza incidence rates in NZ for 2012-2022, stratified by age and ethnicity. The manuscript is clear written. The data are valuable. The conclusions are largely consistent with the data. I have a number of suggestions.

Abstract: would be clearer if the actual measure for population incidence was re-stated in the results section. I think the fact that there were NO cases in 2020-2021 is notable and should be included in the abstract. The first sentence of results – indicated <12 months of age (I was confused when first reading). The final sentence of the results – is the 10 fold higher incidence different from previous years? If not, it would be more accurate to say it was 10 fold higher, similar to previous years. If yes, then worth mentioning. Conclusion – suggest removing the sentence about crowded households – this has not been discussed in the results; it can be mentioned in the discussion.

Introduction – the sentence that lab confirmed influenza was documented only among people in quarantine facilities in 2020 to 2021 – does this mean that testing algorithms were different from other times? Is it likely therefore that influenza SARI would have been missed? Please clarify.

For the overall population incidence rates by ethnicity – were these age adjusted? Presumably this is important given the different age distributions of the Maori, Pacific, and NMNP populations.

In the Discussion, given the higher levels of household crowding in Pacific populations than in the Maori population, it might be expected that influenza incidence may also be higher. I note that no comparisons have been made between Maori and Pacific populations throughout. Scanning the tables, it does appear that influenza incidence is consistently higher in the Pacific population. I think this warrants some discussion.