Kiwis will need to wear masks on public transport in Auckland from Thursday, Covid response minister Chris Hipkins says.
They will not need to be worn on school buses - but will be needed on all flights across New Zealand.
Uber drivers will have to wear masks but their passengers will not, Hipkins said.
Police can enforce rules but that will be a last resort and bus drivers will not be responsible for enforcement.
He said people will be punished if they breach these orders, but the approach the Government has use is more about education.
"We are asking every New Zealander to continue to play their part," Hipkins said.
He said Ministers will be looking into if this should be extended to the rest of the country.
Hipkins is still encouraging people to wear a mask when they are unable to social distance.
He said a wider outbreak can be avoided - if New Zealanders all play their part.
He said this was yet another set and NZ looks to enhance its protections.
Hipkins said there has been a "high compliance" of mask usage over the past few days so he was expecting people to comply.
Rules may be rolled out across NZ - Ardern
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said these new approaches are "another line of defence".
She said on-going mask use has always been encouraged, but the Government wanted to see mask use on public transport enhanced.
On flights, she said it's "much much simpler" if everyone on flights wears masks.
But when it comes to public transport, that's just for Auckland at the moment given there is more of a border workforce living in the city.
Ardern said the Ministry of Health has recommended short-term mandatory mask usage a while ago, but Ardern said that would have been too confusing.
"We're not expecting bus drivers to stop the bus and enforce these measures," Hipkins said.
Ardern said these rules will be self-reinforcing as people will know their responsibility.
Ardern said the Government will work with bus operators on this.
She said Cabinet will be considering if this should be rolled out across the country - but she did not provide a timeframe
On encouraging the Covid-19 app, Ardern said the Government was "considering all its options".
"We all want a summer break," she said.
She said the Government would be "thinking creatively" about how to encourage app usage.
Going forward, a priority for the Government is privacy. That will be top of mind when they look to develop the Covid-19 app.
Hipkins wants people to be in control of their own data.
When it comes to contact tracing, Hipkins said "nothing was off the table".
Ardern said many countries have gone back into lockdown and many Kiwis are wanting to come home, she told reporters.
She said "no system" is perfect.
Earlier today
Cabinet met earlier today to discuss making masks mandatory on all domestic flights, and all Auckland public transport in a bid to prevent further community transmission of Covid-19.
It follows a community infection scare last week after an AUT student tested positive for the virus after going to work and visiting various other business in central Auckland while potentially infectious.
Ardern said today that the request for CBD workers to stay home on Friday took into account the various risks.
She old Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking that it was necessary for 24 hours of caution to establish the link with the existing cases as it enabled time to get the genome sequencing ahead of taking more drastic action.
"Had that case come back and not been linked with the one we had in the inner city then that would indicate a much bigger problem."
The alternative was to not do anything, cross your fingers and then see unchecked community spread.
"I don't want that," she said.
Cabinet would be discussing the mandatory use of masks today, Ardern confirmed. If adopted, mask use would be required for the "foreseeable future".
"We're thinking about places that it's hard to trace people," she said, referring to buses.
Yesterday a neighbour of the AUT student was confirmed as a positive case following further investigations.
There were also two new cases; both are returnees in managed isolation.
The new case connected to the Defence Force cluster was confirmed after returning a "weak positive" result on Saturday.
The person's initial test was negative but a further test picked up the weak positive result which officials investigated further.
The Ministry of Health said the test results indicated a "very recent infection".
The neighbour was classed as a close contact of the AUT student - also known as Case D - who lives in the Vincent Residences and attended work last week at A-Z Collection on High St despite being unwell.
The neighbour has been in the Auckland quarantine facility since November 12.
The Auckland Regional Public Health Unit has also identified seven close contacts and three casual contacts. All have been contacted and testing arranged. Testing for all 10 contacts was expected to be completed by last night.
There are no places of interest identified to date for this latest case.
The other two cases in managed isolation are returnees from the UK and Dubai. Both have been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.
