The new wage subsidy is for an extra two weeks.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson is unveiling the details of the scheme, which is being extended after a fresh outbreak of Covid community transmission last week.
The revelation sent Auckland back into alert level 3 and the rest of the country into level 2.
The criteria for the new wage subsidy announced today is similar to the current extension, which was to lapse on September 1.
• Businesses must have had, or are predicting to have, a revenue drop due to Covid-19 of at least 40 per cent.
• For this new scheme, the revenue drop applies for any consecutive period of at least 14 days within 12 August and 14 September compared to last year.
• In addition, firms which have had 14 consecutive days where revenue has dropped - from August 12 going out until September 10.
• The overall scheme will cost $1.6 billion - that does not come from the $14 billion Covid-19 fund.
"This is also a reminder that the existing extension to the wage subsidy remains open to applications until September 1," Robertson said.
"Businesses that haven't yet accessed that scheme should reassess if they now meet the criteria, following the recent increase in alert levels."
Some $200 million will be invested into a University of Auckland campus expansion. This will result in hundreds of jobs, Robertson said.
The Government was looking for the greatest level of consistency as possible.
"This is a very focused extension of the wage subsidy scheme," he said.
He added that it could be extended if needed.
Robertson said he would "of course" give the Electoral Commission more money if it needed to hold the pushed-out election.
As for any further wage subsidy schemes in different parts of the country, if needed, Robertson said that would be assessed at the time, if that happened.
He said today's announcement was the right response, given what has happened.

Mortgage deferral scheme also extended
An extension to the mortgage deferral scheme has also been agreed in-principle as part of the plan to support households after the existing scheme expires on 27 September. This will continue until March 31 next year.
"The latest Covid-19 outbreak is obviously disappointing, especially for businesses that have just got up and running again," he said this afternoon.
"But we have a plan in place to deal with it.
"We have always said that the best economic response is a strong health response."
The Government will also modify the Covid-19 sick leave scheme to make it more accessible.
Details, Robertson said, will be finalised over the weekend and announced on Monday.
He said the sick leave scheme was "designed for the times".
"We just want to make sure that no one sees a barrier to being tested," he said when talking about why the scheme was needed.
The "balance of the package" which would be in focus when it came to the small business package.
Robertson said for many businesses it was a question of confidence.
"We wanted to be able to say 'we're going to support you through this period of time."
How the schemes will work
• The new wage subsidy is forecast to cost about $510 million and cover 470,000 jobs.
• The criteria for the new wage subsidy are similar to the current extension: In particular, a business must have had, or is predicting to have, a revenue drop due to COVID-19 of at least 40 per cent. For this new scheme, the revenue drop applies for any consecutive period of at least 14 days within 12 August and 14 September compared to last year.
• The Treasury also estimates that a number of businesses that weren't able to access the extended wage subsidy before it expires on 1 September will now become eligible to do so. This is expected to cover about 460,000 workers, at $1.1 billion.
• The costs are expected to be covered by the previous underspend on the extended wage subsidy.
• The Ministry of Social Development has advised the new wage subsidy scheme will be open for applications by the end of the week, Friday 21 August.
• Making the scheme nationwide recognises the specific nature of the current outbreak and Auckland's position in the New Zealand economy. Tourism operators that had been expecting visitors from Auckland, companies that supply and trade with Auckland businesses and hospitality and retail businesses around the country are all affected by the measures to fight the virus.
Comments
Bankrupting the taxpayer to save people's jobs where there is no business revenue and staff are doing next to nothing. Makes zero sense. WINZ exists. Sums up the Government's competency to think another few weeks will make the difference. Hard decisions need to be made. Farms/orchards are crying out for workers. Time to retrain and move for a job. I have done it a number of times.