ISSUE
Friday, August 15, 2025
Volume 16 . Issue 72
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today that New Zealand will move into Alert Level 2 on Thursday, May 14.
"We may have won the battle, but we have not won the war," Jacinda Ardern told New Zealanders.
She said retail, malls, cafes, restaurants, cinemas and other public spaces including playgrounds and gyms would be able to reopen on Thursday, 14 May.
Schools would return to normal classes from Monday, May 18, while bars would have to wait until Thursday 21 to reopen.
She warned that parties and group bookings at restaurants would be restricted to just 10 people.
"Why 10? simple. If something goes wrong, that's much easier to contain, much easier to contact trace."
The government has previously said a safe transition that locks in gains made in alert levels 4 and 3 would be its priority, and it would not rule out moving to level 2 in stages.
In making the decision, Cabinet members would have looked at the most up-to-date evidence, advice from Dr Bloomfield and other experts, and weighed all aspects of the country's Covid-19 response against its effects on the economy, businesses and workers.
Earlier today, the regular daily Covid-19 briefing was not held and the Ministry of Health instead revealed via a media release there were three new cases of the coronavirus and no further deaths.
More to come.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today that New Zealand will move into Alert Level 2 on Thursday, May 14.
"We may have won the battle, but we have not won the war," Jacinda Ardern told New Zealanders.
She said retail, malls, cafes, restaurants, cinemas and other public spaces including...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today that New Zealand will move into Alert Level 2 on Thursday, May 14.
"We may have won the battle, but we have not won the war," Jacinda Ardern told New Zealanders.
She said retail, malls, cafes, restaurants, cinemas and other public spaces including playgrounds and gyms would be able to reopen on Thursday, 14 May.
Schools would return to normal classes from Monday, May 18, while bars would have to wait until Thursday 21 to reopen.
She warned that parties and group bookings at restaurants would be restricted to just 10 people.
"Why 10? simple. If something goes wrong, that's much easier to contain, much easier to contact trace."
The government has previously said a safe transition that locks in gains made in alert levels 4 and 3 would be its priority, and it would not rule out moving to level 2 in stages.
In making the decision, Cabinet members would have looked at the most up-to-date evidence, advice from Dr Bloomfield and other experts, and weighed all aspects of the country's Covid-19 response against its effects on the economy, businesses and workers.
Earlier today, the regular daily Covid-19 briefing was not held and the Ministry of Health instead revealed via a media release there were three new cases of the coronavirus and no further deaths.
More to come.
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