Auckland lockdown extended, rest of NZ to stay at level 2

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says Auckland will remain in alert level 3 until 11.59pm on Sunday. The rest of New Zealand will remain at alert level 2 and masks will be made mandatory on public transport.

The previously announced schedule was for level 3 in Auckland and level 2 for the rest of the country until 11.59pm on Wednesday. 

• Auckland cluster passes Bluff wedding as NZ's largest

Ardern said the rest of the country would remain at level 2 due to the risk posed by travel between regions when travel to and from Auckland is allowed again after Sunday.

She said Cabinet considered moving the rest of the country to level 1, but it would have been very difficult to enforce a ban on Aucklanders from travelling around the country and attending large gatherings.

Masks mandatory on public transport

​A decision had also been made to make masks mandatory on public transport under alert level 2 settings from Monday.

"We know masks protect you."

Public transport meant it was harder to protect yourself and harder to track close contacts.

She said Aucklanders should continue to wear masks when outside of their homes.

She said everyone taking public transport needed to take responsibility for wearing a face mask.

Director general of health Ashley Bloomfield said his advice was that it was a "line-call" about mandating face coverings at level 2.

Ardern clarified that face coverings will be mandated at level 2 and above, including at level 2.

Bloomfield said exemptions might be given if there was a medical reason for it, and further advice was being sought about masks for children.

Who would be liable if the rules are broken was also still being worked through, Ardern said.

"Generally this is falling on the individual to make sure they are complying."

"If Covid can spread on a bus, and we know masks make a difference, let's wear masks."

How long at alert level 2?

The alert level restrictions next week - level 2 around the country, including Auckland - will be in place for a week and be reviewed on September 6.

People will not be allowed to board a bus without a face covering at higher than level 2, she said.

Phased move to level 2 in Auckland

The extra four days of lockdown would allow Auckland to move down a level "and stay down".

She said a phased move to level 2 would happen in Auckland.

In Auckland mass gatherings will be restricted to 10 people at level 2, and a 50-person limit would be in place for funerals and tangi.

The rest of the country will be at level 2.

Auckland Mayor disappointed

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said he is disappointed that Alert Level 3 is being extended for four days, but he believes Aucklanders will understand why the decision has been made.

"This will be difficult for people whose jobs and businesses are most affected by Level 3 restrictions. However, the advice given by medical experts is clear; if we ease up on restrictions too early, we risk a further resurgence and losing the benefits we gained from ensuring the virus is contained," Goff said.

Ardern backs elimination plan

She stood by the elimination strategy as being the best for the long-term benefit of New Zealand.

Heavy restriction didn't have to be used every time a case emerged, she added.

"There is no denying that the price Aucklanders are currently paying are the greatest. We know it's been tough. I know there are many who've found it harder this time."

Covid-19 is now the world's reality and that reality was "hard to accept".

Keeping as much normality as possible was the aim despite the grip of the global pandemic.

The next seven days will see thousands of tests and Ardern hoped that people will continue to play their part by washing their hands, staying home if sick, and using the Covid Tracer app.

"If anyone country knows how to bounce back, it is up. If it feels hard right now, that's because it is."

"2020 has frankly been terrible. But we've been strong, we've been kind and we're doing really well."

Asked about not mandating the use of masks earlier, she said lessons had been learned as more information about Covid-19 came to light, and the Government moved with new evidence.

She said exponential growth outside of the cluster and cases unconnected to the link could jeopardise moving to level 2 next week.

"Because this is a larger outbreak than usual, we will see a bigger tail than usual."

The source of the cluster was still being sought, and was still unknown despite testing at the border and genomic sequencing.

Asked about what responsibility the Government took for the outbreak, she said the work was continuing into trying to find the source.

She said the tail of the cluster will be long and cases will "keep coming" for a while to come.

"But we can manage that."

"If it weren't for level 3 this cluster would be exponential, of that I have no doubt."

The perimeter of the cluster needed to be understood and defined, she said, and that confidence can be built over the course of this week.

'Enormous effort' to contain outbreak

Cabinet met today and took into account the advice of director general of health Ashley Bloomfield

​Ardern started by outlining the "enormous effort" into rolling out the Government's resurgence plan.

That included massive testing and ramped-up contact tracing. There had been 100,000 tests in Auckland and 194,000 tests in total.

Contact-tracing's gold standard had been reached - 80% of close contacts isolated within 48 hours of a positive test result since August 12.

They've used "whatever it takes" to establish people's movements.

Cases had emerged from before level 3 came into force, she said, including on bus journeys between strangers, in churches, in a retail shop.

She said the tail of the cluster will be long and cases will "keep coming" for a while to come.

"But we can manage that."

The outbreak "will continue" to result in more cases. 

"This is a contained cluster, but it is our biggest one."

Cabinet met today and took into account the advice of director general of health Ashley Bloomfield, who will join Ardern at the press conference.

The factors Cabinet has considered include the number of new cases, the types of cases including those unconnected to the current cluster, the capacity of the contact-tracing regime and the health system, economic impacts and the levels of public compliance.

Today there were nine new cases - eight confirmed and one probable - including eight connected to the South Auckland cluster and one in managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ).

That brings the number of cases in the cluster to 101 - now New Zealand's biggest - the number of cases still under investigation to three, and with 19 cases in MIQ, the total number of active cases to 123.

Bloomfield said today finding the perimeter of the outbreak was important and testing this week would concentrate on Pacific communities in South and West Auckland.

One of the three cases still under investigation had been asymptomatic, and all indications were it was an old case. They had arrived in country in June and hadn't tested positive during their stay in MIQ,

One had symptoms and went to the North Short ED on Friday night, and the third case is the Rydges maintenance worker.

He said avoiding level 3 or 4 in response to future outbreaks should be manageable.

"Now that we know our testing can ramp up quickly, we know our contact-tracing is effective, we've got much wider use of the NZ Covid Tracer app, there's a range of other measures being put in place.

"When we do get another case - it's likely to happen again - we should be able to manage it within an alert level 1 or 2 setting. And that is exactly the aim."

He said elimination was still the strategy,

"We want to quickly stamp out any outbreaks. The aim would be to be able to do that no higher than a level 2 setting."

Yesterday there were 4589 tests. Sundays usually have lower traffic to testing stations.

There are 10 people in hospital, including two in ICU in Middlemore.

Of 2300 close contacts identified, 2249 have been contacted.

New Zealand had a string of lower daily case numbers the last time we moved from level 3 to 2, which was in May, but tools such as contact tracing and genome sequencing have greatly improved since then.

Public health experts are urging caution about moving Auckland down to level 2 from Thursday but businesses say it's imperative if they are to survive and save jobs.