Auckland and Waikato COVID-19 restrictions are set to ease meaning retail businesses and dealerships are among trades that can re-open their doors to customers again.
Waikato will move to step two, level three at 11:59pm on November 2 while Cabinet has made an in-principle decision for Auckland to move to the same level at 11:59pm on November 9. The rest of the country will remain at alert level two.
Step two in the new framework means retail can open, with customers keeping two metres apart, and staff and customers required to wear face coverings. Outdoor gatherings of up to 25 people can go ahead with the removal of the two-household restriction.
This will come as some relief for those businesses which have been closed to customers since mid-August when the Delta outbreak emerged.
Ministry of Health data shows New Zealand’s vaccination rate sits at 88% for first doses and 75% for second doses representing more than 3.1 million people who are fully vaccinated.
In Auckland metro DHBs, 91% have had their first doses and 81% have had a second dose.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the Government is taking a “steady and conscious change” through the alert levels.
“Because of higher vaccination rates in Auckland we can move forward with greater confidence … and we will continue to have very strong and clear public health guidance on how businesses that are eligible to re-open do so.
“These decisions are carefully balanced and allow us to release some of the pressure and fatigue that we know exists in Auckland,” Ardern says.
There were 162 new community cases of COVID-19 reported on Monday. Of the new cases, 156 are in Auckland, one is in Northland, and five are in Waikato. It brings the total number of cases in the Delta outbreak to 3510.
At Step 2:
- Retail can open, with customers keeping two metres apart, and staff and customers required to wear face coverings
- Public facilities like libraries and museums can reopen, with face coverings required and people keeping two metres apart
- Outdoor gatherings of up to 25 people can go ahead, with the removal of the two-household restriction. Physical distancing is strongly encouraged to help prevent the virus spreading between households.
- Outdoor organised exercise classes, like yoga and bootcamps, can expand to 25 people, including instructors, with two-metre physical distancing required.
*All other restrictions remain as in step one. Click here for more information.
