Other than cases in managed isolation or quarantine facilities, there has not been a case of Covid-19 confirmed in the South Island since mid-May.
The last cases of the disease confirmed in the Southern District Health Board region were on April 18.
However, Aucklanders have just spent a fortnight at Alert Level 3 due to a cluster of community cases, which yesterday totalled 135.
Despite the cluster not yet being contained, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern pressed ahead with the already announced decision that Auckland would move out of Alert Level 3 to Alert Level 2 at 11.59pm yesterday.
It was a "health-based and evidence-based" decision, she said, adding that Alert Level 2 allowed for isolated community cases of Covid-19.
However, the fact that there were cases in Auckland required the rest of New Zealand to still be at Alert Level 2.
"While no cases have been detected outside of Auckland, the risk of spreading cases to other parts of the country once Auckland moved to Level 2 was front of mind and underpinned the rationale for retaining Level 2 settings everywhere," a spokeswoman for Ms Ardern said.
"There are many people who will now travel in and out of Auckland each day, and to manage the risk of spread elsewhere, we need to retain Level 2 precautions for a short while longer."
At a press conference yesterday, Ms Ardern urged Aucklanders to handle their new freedoms responsibly, and not to travel if ill or to attend large gatherings.
The latest cluster of Covid-19 provided two new cases of the disease yesterday, one in Auckland and the other a healthcare worker in Waikato town Tokoroa — the only place other than Auckland where cases of Covid-19 have been found during this latest outbreak.
On Saturday, 13 new cases were reported, two in managed isolation and 11 in the community, all the latter in Auckland.
The number of Covid-19 cases meant the city would not quite make it back to Alert Level 2 but would sit at what the Prime Minister called "Alert Level 2.5" with strict limits on how many people could gather together.
Dunedin Mayor Aaron Hawkins said while the shift in alert levels was good news for Auckland, it made him nervous.
"It feels like the Government are betting the house on their testing and contact-tracing regime, to get on top of the current outbreak," he posted on social media.
"With no limits on people moving around the country, we have no choice but to be hyper vigilant here in Dunedin."
He urged locals to use the Covid Tracer app or keep a thorough log of their movements, be diligent with hand hygiene, maintain social distancing and to stay at home if they were sick.
Today’s shift in alert levels coincides with the introduction of mandatory mask-wearing on public transport.
Police said they would have thousands of masks to distribute to commuters today, as people got used to the new rules.
"We recognise this requirement is something new for many Kiwis and it’s something people may not have been used to doing previously," assistant commissioner Richard Chambers said.
Ms Ardern said wearing masks remained optional in settings other than public transport but was strongly encouraged, especially where social distancing might be difficult.
"It is not a simple thing to suddenly create a legal framework around ... but as a Cabinet we will reserve the right to mandate if we believe that it is not being properly used."
Yesterday, the Prime Minister also had to deal with a message posted on the Unite Against Covid-19 social media feed yesterday which urged all West and South Aucklanders — several hundred thousand people — to get a test.
“We are not asking everyone who lives in West or South Auckland to get a test,” she said.
The information was corrected yesterday.
