Restrictions on size of gatherings eased

Restrictions on gatherings will be eased this week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and directorgeneral of health Ashley Bloomfield have announced.

Cabinet has decided to increase the size limit on all gatherings from 10 to 100 as of noon on Friday.

Last week, Ardern indicated level 2 restrictions would be reviewed every two weeks to allow more activity to take place, when the advice and data indicated it was safe.

Yesterday, Cabinet discussed alert level 2 settings and the pathway to move to level 1, as soon as safely possible, without losing any gains, she said.

Cabinet would check in again on those on June 8, Ardern told reporters yesterday.

It will make a decision whether move to level 1 no later than June 22.

The Government needed to make time for orders to be drafted in time for Friday’s change,

Ardern said.

Groups of 10 had always been based around social gatherings but that limit had now gone, she said.

Weddings, funerals and church services can now allow 100 people to attend.

Health advice and guidance remained the same for weddings and events and nightclubs and bars. At this stage, seating requirements will still be in place, so no dancing would be permitted at clubs and bars, Ardern said.

This was because having large numbers coming and going in the hospitality sector made it difficult to keep track, she said.

‘‘We are opening and have already opened our bars. Across the ditch, that’s not even on the horizon.’’

New Zealand was moving faster than many, but it was doing so in a way that means it kept good results, Ardern said.

There was also the expectation private event organisers knew who was in attendance.

She urged those planning a party on Friday to keep a list of attendees.

Despite several days of zero new cases of Covid-19 while at alert level 2, the country looks set to remain here for a while.

Last Thursday, the country took a ‘‘cautious step forward’’, with bars opening and, as Kiwis progressed through level 2, the Government planned to regularly adjust the rules, Ardern said.

Last week, she said there was ‘no timeframe’ for move to alert level 1 and New Zealand would not move there unless the director-general of health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, was confident.

During the update on the progress towards the goal of stamping out Covid-19 and moving as fast and as safe as possible, to open up more of the economy, she also outlined more detail about the ongoing risk management for level 2.

Yesterday Ardern said she wanted to give as much certainty as she could about seeing New Zealand start to move into lower alert levels.

But Ardern indicated that, while the restriction on mass gatherings may be reassessed – groups of more than 10 people are not permitted in most settings – the country should not yet expect a climb down to level 1.