Auckland is moving to Alert Level 2 at 11:59pm on Wednesday 17 February. The rest of New Zealand is moving to Alert Level 1. Masks must be worn on public transport everywhere, they are now required at Alert Levels 1 and 2.
These restrictions will remain in place until Monday, when they will be reviewed by Cabinet.
For Auckland; Alert Level 2 means that the virus is contained, but there is a risk of community transmission.
At Alert Level 2, you can go to work and school and travel, but you should practice good hygiene and keep your distance from others when out in public.
There can be no more than 100 people at social gatherings, including weddings, birthdays, funerals, tangihanga and church services.
Businesses can reopen but must follow public health rules, including physical distancing, record keeping and the cap of 100 people.
We all need to continue to play our part to keep safe, this means you must stay home if you’re sick, use the NZ COVID tracer app to scan everywhere you go and turn your Bluetooth on.
Wear masks on public transport, on flights and anywhere else it’s difficult to keep your distance from others. Continue to wash your hands often and thoroughly.
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Today we are reporting 2 cases of COVID-19 in managed isolation.
There are no new cases in the community, nor any linked to the Auckland February cluster.
Auckland February cases contact tracing update
Other than the known cases which have been reported, all close contacts associated with the cases households, school and travel group to New Plymouth have returned negative results.
Contact tracing has identified a total of 128 close contacts associated with all cases in this cluster, aside from the positive cases which have previously been reported. Of these, 120 of the close contacts have returned a negative test result.
There is one new case of COVID-19 in the community linked to the existing Auckland February cases, a household contact of previous cases D, E and F.
The case (case G) is a household contact of cases D, E and F which we announced on Wednesday. This person had previously returned a negative test, taken on Monday 15 February and has been isolating at home and is in the process of transferring to the Auckland quarantine facility.
There is one additional member of this household, who has returned a negative test result, but is also being transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.
Genome sequencing has been completed for case F and shows a clear link to other cases in the cluster.
There are no new cases in the community outside of the 3 cases announced yesterday.
There are 3 new cases of COVID-19 in managed isolation.
Auckland February cases
No further cases in the community provides continued reassurance that our swift, all of system response continues to be a highly effective reaction to the Auckland February cases.
The three cases we announced yesterday, (D, E and F), from the second family household group have all now been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.
Contact tracing and test results
Contact tracing has identified 135 close contacts associated to all six cases.
COVID-19 update
There are no new cases of COVID-19 in the community and no cases in managed isolation to report today.
Sadly, we are formally recording the death of a patient with COVID-19 at North Shore Hospital, which was first announced on Saturday 13 February.
Our thoughts are with the family. A total of 26 people have died with COVID-19 in New Zealand. One previously reported case has now recovered. The total number of active cases in New Zealand is 46. Our total number of confirmed cases is 1,981.
A new Resurgence Support Payment is being introduced to help businesses directly affected when there’s a move to Alert Level 2 or above for a week or more.
For contact tracing purposes, anyone who attended one of the locations listed here during the relevant timeframes is considered to be either a ‘Casual Plus Contact’ or a 'Casual Contact'.
Our current advice is that although there is a low risk of exposure, out of an abundance of caution, we are asking individuals to follow the instructions in the table below if they visited these locations during the relevant times.
Please note extra time has been added on either side of each visit to ensure we reach all potential contacts. As a result of this, you will notice that some times may overlap.
Auckland is now at Alert Level 3 and the rest of New Zealand is now at Alert Level 2 for three days.
We are asking that people in Auckland stay home, and work and study from home if possible.
Under Alert Level 3, travel in and out of Auckland is strictly limited, and you may need to seek additional permission to complete this travel. Find out more about the Auckland boundary here: covid19.govt.nz/travel-and-the…
Children should learn at home if possible. Early learning centres and schools in Auckland are open for children whose parents have to go to work and have no childcare arrangements, particularly essential workers.