Auckland will remain at level three and the rest of New Zealand at level two for a further 12 days, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced this evening (Friday August 14) following a Cabinet meeting this afternoon.

The decision comes just three days after community transmission of COVID-19 was revealed (on Tuesday August 11). Within 24 hours Auckland was moved to alert level three and the remainder of New Zealand to level two.

Twenty-nine cases of the virus have been confirmed, and all remain linked to the Auckland cluster, with one other case under investigation which is likely linked to it, the Prime Minister said.

There are now 48 active cases in New Zealand.

The Prime Minister said the purpose of the government’s resurgence response plan was to restore the country’s level one freedoms as quickly as possible.

In keeping with the government’s precautionary approach Cabinet agreed to maintain the current settings for an additional 12 days, until midnight Wednesday August 26, bringing the period to two weeks in total.

The alert levels will be reviewed earlier, on August 21.

“There is nothing to suggest we need to move to a level four lockdown at this stage,” she said. 

The PM reiterated that “the best economic response is a strong health response”.

Cabinet has also made an ‘in principle’ decision to extend the wage subsidy, nationwide, to match the duration of the alert level three.

“There are signs we found this outbreak relatively early in its life,” the PM said.

Extensive testing and contact tracing have identified that the earliest case appears to be an Americold worker who first became sick on July 21.

This case may not be the origin of the outbreak, however, the PM said. Genome testing shows the virus strain appears to be new to New Zealand, rather than a case of the virus resurfacing after being dormant.

No link has been found to the border or managed isolation at this stage, she said.

Level three restrictions will have made a material difference in containing the outbreak, the PM said, citing a 60 per cent reduction in travel in Auckland since the restrictions were imposed.

“We can expect to see more cases as part of this cluster,” she said, adding it is important to make sure the perimeter of the cluster is established and to ensure it stops growing.