Auckland to move to level 3, rest of NZ to level 2

Auckland will move to Covid alert level 3 from 11.59pm Sunday for three days and the rest of New Zealand will be at level 2, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced.

That will be reviewed in 24 hours.

Three days should allow the Government to get more information and get more testing, Ardern said.

She said this was the "right thing to do."

It would also help see if there was any community transmission.

She said the Government is asking Aucklanders to "stay home".

That will help stop the spread, she said.

People should work from home, where possible, she said.

That means children are being asked to stay home from school.

Cabinet was responding with a "cautious approach" to today's Covid-19 news, she said.

Ardern said "we need to act with a high degree of caution" and "go hard and early".

Supermarkets and petrol stations will remain open so there was "no need to rush out to get any essential items."

Public venues, such as pools and playgrounds, will be closed.

Gatherings in Auckland are now reduced to 10 people.

"If you can, postponement is the best thing at this point," she said.

She said people can go home if they live in Auckland - a border will be put in place, but there is an exemption regime.

Anyone prone to Covid-19 are encouraged to take additional precautions

For the rest of New Zealand, schools remain open.

LEVEL 3: Auckland
-Stay at home and work remotely if possible
-Schools and daycare only open to children of essential workers
-Gatherings restricted to 10 people
-Travel restrictions with borders around Auckland
-Public venues such as pools and playgrounds closed

LEVEL 2: Rest of New Zealand
-People can still go to work
-Schools and daycare remain open
-Gatherings restricted to 100 people
-Travel into Auckland restricted

There will be wide ranging testing of people who are symptomatic, she said.

But she said there was no need for people who did not have symptoms don't need to go get tested.

She said she doesn't want people to "clog up the system."

She said NZers had enjoyed more freedoms than anywhere else in the world.

Ardern and Director general of health Ashley Bloomfield are fronting a 7pm press conference.

Cabinet met this evening to talk about the three new cases.

The podiums Ardern and Bloomfield stand at have been moved two metres apart from one another.

The PM, health officials and other ministers used to do this when New Zealand was at higher alert levels.

The new cases – a mother, father and daughter – are considered "new and active" according to Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins.

Officials are in the process of figuring out if the family – who are moving to the Jet Park MIQ facility – has infected anyone else.

Ardern was in Auckland for the Big Gay Out today, but flew back to Wellington to be briefed.

As at 1.30pm, there had been no change to New Zealand's level 1 status, Hipkins said this afternoon.

"But we will collect more information before we would make any such decision."

There are still a number of "pieces of the puzzle" that officials need to collect, such as how the mother who worked at LSG Sky Chefs became infected.

Hipkins said he anticipated being able to provide an update on the new cases tonight.

In that update, he said he would detail if any further decisions had been made.

Speaking to reporters about 1.30pm, he said no emergency Cabinet meeting had been called tonight.

He did, however, say one could be scheduled "very quickly" if it was needed.Director general of health Ashley Bloomfield said this afternoon officials were collecting more detailed information and "we will make that available as soon as we have it".