Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says people by and large have been really compliant however the odd person has broken the rules and put everyone else at risk. She says once fines were put in place for people escaping MIQ, the numbers of people escaping reduced.
The maximum infringement fee will move from $300 to $4000 for an individual. For a business, it will move from $300 to $12,000.
If imposed by the courts, the maximum fine will now be $12,000 for individuals and for companies, the maximum will now be $15,000.
These will change in November subject to the passing of the Covid-19 Public Health Response amendment bill.
Ardern says it's important people understand the rules but also the consequences of breaking the rules.
The government knows who infected the person on remand and on what date, Ardern says. They have been linked to a workplace cluster, she says.
Meanwhile, Ardern says the best way to flush out mystery cases is "to test, test, test".
"It is critical that we keep up those testing rates."