NZ PM AnnounCEs DECIsIon on AlErt LEvEls For AuCklAnD

Auckland is to move to level 2, with eased restrictions on social gatherings, at 11.59pm tomorrow, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced.

The rest of New Zealand was at alert level 1 from midnight last night. NZ Cabinet reviewed the alert levels yesterday. Auckland’s level 2 status will be in place for 14 days, with Cabinet set to review those settings again on October 5.

“If we remain on track it would then be our intention to consider moving alert levels from 7 October, again this is all conditional on us continuing as we are now,” Ms Ardern said.

Ms Ardern acknowledged deaths of two brothers of COVID-19. “These deaths are a reminder of just how serious this virus is.” Analysis completed by the NZ Ministry of Health suggests that by the end of this month there is still a 50-50 chance of New Zealand having eliminated COVID again,

Ms Ardern said.

“That’s cause for us not to get ahead of ourselves and to remain vigilant. For this reason, we need people in Auckland to continue to stay home when they are sick and get a test even if it is just a sniffle or a cough. Scan or keep a record of where you are and where you’ve been ... continue to wear face coverings [on public transport].” Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said earlier there were no new cases of COVID-19 cases in New Zealand yesterday. Dr Bloomfield said the case over the weekend of the returnee who tested positive after being released from managed isolation should be commended for his actions for remaining alert to his health and self-isolating.

“This is exactly the sort of will help us keep ahead of said RNZ vigilance that the virus,” he