Auckland will go into Covid-19 Alert Level 3 and the rest of the country Level 2, from Wednesday noon until Friday midnight.
The move follows four cases of community transmission being found in south Auckland.
The four cases aren’t linked to overseas travel or people who work at the border. They are from the same family.
Those who the individuals work with have been asked to self-isolate.
Travel into and out of Auckland will be restricted. However people can travel out of Auckland if their home is out of Auckland, or travel into Auckland if their home is in Auckland.
There will be roadblocks and checks.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Auckland was defined as the Super City area from Wellsford to Pukekohe.
Unlike last time New Zealand went into lockdown, the Ministry of Health is advising people to use face masks.
Here is a copy of the advice from the Ministry of Health:
Auckland
Under Alert Level 3, you are encouraged work from home if you can.
Travel and self-isolation
If you are currently in Auckland and do not live in Auckland, we suggest that you go home. Practise good hygiene and be conscious of your health. We recommend that you keep your bubble small.
Businesses
Businesses are able to open, but should not physically interact with customers.
Essential services including healthcare, justice services and businesses providing necessities are able to open.
Bars and restaurants should close, but takeaways are allowed.
Education
Schools in Auckland can safely open but will have limited capacity. Where possible we encourage students to learn from home.
When you're out and about
Maintain physical distancing of 2 metres outside your home, including on public transport.
It is highly recommended that you wear a mask if you are out and about.
Public transport can continue to operate with strict health and safety requirements. You should maintain physical distancing and wearing a mask.
Public venues should close. This includes libraries, museums, cinemas, food courts, gyms, pools, playgrounds and markets.
Gatherings
Gatherings of up to 10 people can continue, but only for wedding services, funerals and tangihanga. Physical distancing and public health measures should be maintained.
At-risk people
People at high risk of severe illness such as older people and those with existing medical conditions are encouraged to stay at home where possible, and take additional precautions when leaving home.
Further detail
Detailed information about life at Alert Level 3 is available.
Rest of New Zealand
The rest of New Zealand will move to Alert Level 2 at 12 noon on Wednesday 12 August.
You can still continue to go to work and school, with physical distancing.
Wear masks if you can in public.
No more than 100 people at gatherings, including weddings, birthdays, funerals and tangihanga.
Businesses can open to the public if they are following public health guidance, which include physical distancing and record keeping.
People at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19, for example those with underlying medical conditions and old people are encouraged to take additional precautions when leaving home.
Practice good hygiene - stay home if sick.
Detailed information about life at Alert Level 2 is available.
Here is a press release from the Ministry of Health:
The Prime Minister has announced four confirmed cases of COVID-19 in one family from an unknown source.
The index case is a person in their 50s who lives in South Auckland.
They were swabbed yesterday, and the swab was processed twice. A second swab, taken today confirms the positive result.
The person has been symptomatic for five days and was interviewed this evening by the Auckland Regional Public Health Service.
The person has no overseas travel history.
As is our usual protocol we are continuing to trace close and casual contacts of this person and test them for COVID-19.
This has included household contacts of the case who received a rapid test this evening. Three of these tests have also come back positive and three are negative.
All close contacts of the four cases will remain in self-isolation for 14 days, regardless of their test result, and all casual contacts will remain in self-isolation until they have the results of their test.
In addition, we are working over the next few days to test all people that are working at our borders and everyone that works at a managed isolation facility.
There will also be no barriers to anyone that has cold and flu symptoms getting tested. Testing is free.
“I’ve said it previously, but it’s even more relevant now, if you are offered a test, please take it", Director General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said.
In Auckland the four community testing centres in Northcote, Grafton, Henderson and Wiri will be operating with more staff and extra hours. The testing centres in Auckland, Waitemata and Counties Manukau are all prepared for receiving more people. Details will be on our website tonight.
The three DHBs in Auckland are planning pop up clinics over coming days and they will publicise the locations and hours of these clinics.
The Ministry will be working closely with DHBs and primary care around the country to ensure additional testing capacity is available to meet an expected increase in demand.
As we’ve been saying for several weeks, it was inevitable that New Zealand would get another case of community transmission.
We have been working on the basis that it could be at any time – and that time is now.
The health system is well prepared for this eventuality – and the important thing now is that we don’t let the virus spread in our community.
As we did in the early days of this virus emerging, we need to stamp it out.
There are things that every single New Zealander needs to do now:
- Continue stringent hand hygiene
- sneeze and cough into your elbow.
- If you or a family member are unwell stay home and contact Healthline or your GP about getting a test.
- practice physical distancing of two meters wherever possible.
- consider wearing a mask in public spaces or places where it is hard to physically distance.
If you have any concerns please seek advice from Healthline or your GP on getting a test.
If you have not already, please use this opportunity to download the NZ COVID Tracer app.
This will give us your up to date contact details, so if we need to get in touch with you for contact tracing purposes, we can do so quickly.
If you have fallen out of the habit of recording your movements as you go about your day, this case is a reminder of why it is so important.
You can still use the manual function on the app to record where you have been recently, and scan in using QR codes going forward.
A reminder too, for businesses – please have a QR code displayed so your customers can be traced quickly if required.
"Our contact tracing team will be getting in touch with anyone identified as being a contact of this case. Please be responsive if you are contacted – return the call.
"This case is a wake-up call against any complacency that may have set in.
"We cannot afford to let this virus spread.
"We have seen how quickly it can lead to a wider resurgence in communities overseas. Places that have had COVID-19 under control have seen flare-ups and gone back into a full lockdown.
"We are working to not let that happen here. We’ve done this before and we can do it again," Dr Bloomfield said.
314 Comments
This is spectacular failure on the part of the Government .
They are not telling us the whole story because they have messed up the testing at the airport , its been utterly shambolic .
To say they dont know how this family got it is simply dishonest , its an outright lie and the truth has to come out .
If he was working at the airport or a quarantine centre , then we need to know
Housing Market “What to expect” L3 & L2
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