Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was joined by Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins and director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield from the Beehive at 1pm.
There are 194 cases of Covid-19 in the community today and a further person has died with the virus. A man, in his 60s, died at North Shore Hospital.
The Ministry said he was admitted to hospital on November 4 with Covid symptoms and subsequently tested positive. He died yesterday
There are new cases in Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Lakes/Taupo and Canterbury.
From December 15, people travelling out of Auckland who are fully vaccinated or test negative 72 hours before departure will be able to leave the city.
It will be in place from then to January 17.
Police will have operational discretion and those who break the rules could face a $1000 fine.
On Auckland's northern boundary, police will work with iwi and so people there have confidence checks are in place to keep people safe.
On enforcement, that was being left with police but Ardern said police would be communicating with the people of Tai Tokerau to make sure movement was safe.
Ardern said she recognised there were lower vaccination levels in Northland.
Air New Zealand has put in place vaccination and testing requirements. Checks for travellers out of Auckland Airport will be done at the check-in stage. Air New Zealand will require a vaccine certificate or a negative test result for flyers departing Auckland from December 15.
Interislander ferries will also use these requirements, done so with the South Island in mind.
It represents a significant shift for New Zealand and Ardern said as she encouraged people to get vaccinated.
Ardern cited details which were released today about the vaccine pass and how to apply for it. She was aware more than 60,000 people had done so today.
Other ministers will look at how testing and social care will work for those with the virus.
Ardern said it was important community care was robust as to reduce the onward spread.
Traffic light system 'shortly after Nov 29'
On November 29, Cabinet will confirm Auckland's move into the traffic light system, into the Red level, she said. Ardern indicated the move to the new system would be very soon after the November 29 Cabinet meeting and would be a similar timeframe to level transitions as they have been in the past, when asked if it would be 24 hours or 48 hours from that time.
The rest of the country will move at the same time as Auckland, the Government will confirm at that meeting.
Areas with lower vaccination areas will be moved into the red level to protect people and promote vaccinations.
The traffic light system is safer than the alert level system, Ardern said.
More guidance would be released on the traffic light system as it relates to different sectors.
On a potential move to step 3 of alert level 3 for Auckland, Ardern said she wouldn't predict the decision by Cabinet. However, she hoped today's announcements would give people certainty
Asked about the Green traffic light level, Ardern said today was about advising Kiwis on what would happen on November 29 and it would be determined what levels different areas of the country would move to and it was expected that move would happen soon after.
"Prepare for the new framework...it's coming very soon," Ardern said
No area would step into Green straight away.
For a vaccinated person, Ardern said they would notice very little difference between Orange and Green.
Aucklanders will experience a change and a lowering of restrictions before December 15, Ardern said.
Asked about the timing of the December 15 decision, Ardern said the whole country needed to be in the new framework by then so the two weeks between then would give Government the chance to implement it.
Ardern said there had been a phenomenal increase in vaccination levels over recent months and this framework would offer greater protection because of those levels
On lower vaccination areas, Ardern said vaccination levels would be key in deciding when those areas would move to different levels in the traffic light system
For those who say they have concerns about areas with low vaccination levels, Ardern assured them red would give them protection
From January 17, Ardern said vaccination levels would be very high and testing and certificates would be used to slow the spread. She noted we needed to move into a system where we didn't have hard borders.
On concerns about the behaviour seen by those resisting vaccination, Ardern noted more than 90 per cent had received at least one dose which indicated that the large majority were on board, and other countries had implemented similar requirements which we could learn from
Ardern said there would be separate announcements regarding the international border.
On the transtasman bubble and whether that will be reinstated before Christmas, Hipkins said the goal was to make changes that would "stick" or wouldn't be quickly repealed. He again referenced risk around the international border and echoed the Prime Minister on how the Government would move carefully on this issue.
It wouldn't be unreasonable to expect there wouldn't be substantial changes to the international border until early next year. More specific dates would be provided before the end of the year.
Asked whether Maori cases had been modelled regarding today's announcements, Ardern said she hadn't seen specific modelling which detailed impact by ethnicity however, she did note the design of the framework was the best way to limit spread.
Asked whether Maori vaccination was being sabotaged by the Ministry, Director General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield denied those accusations which had been reportedly made by Whanau Ora chief executive John Tamihere.
On help for businesses regarding compliance with vaccination requirements, Covid Response Minister Chris Hipkins said this was not foreign to places in hospitality which already checked age, however, the vaccination requirement was much broader than that industry.
Careful thought had been employed regarding vaccination requirements for business and police were available to provide support around compliance.
"They know what's coming," Hipkins said of police.
On modelling on cases and deaths, Bloomfield said some modelling had been received about the pattern of travel but he hadn't cited it yet.
He also noted the modelling almost changed day by day.
Ultimately, the decisions made today have been made to prevent and slow case growth, he said.
On contact tracing, Bloomfield said it would be able to hold up under the larger number of cases. Capacity was being increased on a weekly basis. He acknowledged the focus of contract tracing had been shifted to focus on closer contacts.
Vaccine passport website overwhelmed
Earlier today people wanting to download their vaccine passports on the My Covid Record website - which is now live - faced a bumpy start this morning, however, when the site seemingly buckled under the pressure.
People trying to access the service were told "too many requests" at around 7.15am.
Hipkins told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking that once the country moves into the traffic light framework people will need to prove that they have it, either show it and print it out, he said.
The website was working this morning and can produce about 200 vaccine certificates per second.
"All the feedback I've had is that it's working but there may be periods where there's a little delay."
More than a million people had downloaded their records since the website had been operational. The next step to get your certificate should be a "very seamless one".
He thought most people would find it straightforward and they had about 2000 people road test it - many with different levels of digital literacy, he said.
Senior citizens also have the option of making a call to get their certificate instead of having to download or print it out, he said.
On people who had been vaccinated overseas, he told TVNZ's Breakfast that that part of the vaccine passport system would take longer as it was a manual process.
