Covid 19 coronavirus: All you need to know about alert level 4 lockdown

Senior political reporter, NZ Herald·NZ Herald·

8 Apr, 2020 07:00 AM9 mins to read

NOW PLAYING • Focus: Inside New Zealand's second week in Covid-19 lockdown

Focus: A look back at the country's second week of national lockdown with promising developments as new case numbers fall. ...

New Zealand is completing a four-week lockdown period with the goal of eliminating Covid-19 in this country. Here is your guide to getting through it.

At the halfway point of the lockdown, New Zealand has 1210 confirmed and probable cases - up from 210 when it started.

Crucially, the number of daily cases has not only flattened, but begun to decrease. The 50 new cases in the 24 hours to April 8 was the lowest daily increase since the beginning of the lockdown, and has prompted cautious optimism the "stay home" measures are working, provided Kiwis continue to stick to their bubbles.

"We may yet see bumps along the way ... but I remain cautiously optimistic that we are starting to turn a corner," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, also revealing 41 more people with had recovered in the same period.

There are 12 people in hospital, four in intensive care units and one person has died - West Coast woman Anne Guenole, who was in her 70s. The number of tests being completed have dramatically increased, with 4098 in the past 24 hours - the most so far and up from about 1000 at the start of the lockdown, and nearly 50,000 completed overall.

Latest case numbers

These are the latest figures on Covid-19 case numbers, deaths and recoveries in New Zealand and around the world.

Covid-19 in NZ — 18th December

2110

new

Total confirmed and probable cases

⬆︎8

Active cases

In Hospital

In ICU

2034

⬆︎2

Recovered

Deaths

427

⬆︎10

Border cases

You can find more comprehensive charts and analysis here. New Zealand numbers will be updated each day shortly after the Ministry of Health's 1pm press briefing.

Where to get help

If you think you might have Covid-19 symptoms, ring Healthline (0800 358 5453) or your doctor.

For general inquiries, call the free Government helpline on 0800 779 997 (8am–1am, seven days a week) or visit the official information site covid19.govt.nz.

To speak to a trained counsellor free text or call 1737 any time. More information on support available can be found here.

For the latest updates follow nzherald.co.nz.

What does alert level 4 mean and how long will it last?

Since 11.59pm on Wednesday, March 25, New Zealand has been at Covid-19 alert level 4 - effectively in lockdown.

All non-essential businesses are closed with staff working remotely if they are able, and everyone has to stay at home except for exercise, or visiting essential services.

The minimum lockdown period is four weeks, ending April 23.

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People are asked to maintain contact with only a select group of people, with the aim of reducing contact with as many other people as possible, and stopping the spread of Covid-19.

Who can be in your bubble?

Alert level 4 means you can only have in-person contact with people in your household - also referred to as your bubble - and you cannot have contact with any other people outside your household.

Different rules apply for essential workers.

You cannot meet up with people outside your household group or bubble, or allow them to enter your home.

It's okay for people to drop off food and supplies, but they need to leave these at the door and avoid contact with all household members.

The main goal is for physical separation, not social, and people are encouraged to maintain contact over the phone or online.

Children in shared custody arrangements can move between two households if they are in the same community.

Those living alone are able to join up with another person living alone or a small household, though they must be in the same neighbourhood and not interact with anyone else.

Those in unsafe or life-threatening circumstances are also able to move, and help is available here.

Where can you go and what can you do?

"Stay home, save lives" is the essential message, but there are exceptions.

You can still go to the supermarket, go for a walk, exercise and take the children to a field or the dog for a walk.

But you can't interact with people outside of your bubble. For example, you can take your children to the beach but they shouldn't play with other children. If you go to a park, keep the children away from playground equipment.

Keep at least 2m away from other people at all times and don't go out at all if you are coughing, sneezing or have a runny nose.

People should not do anything that could risk an injury as emergency services need to be kept free.

According to the Government activities to avoid include any water-based activity - such as swimming, surfing or boating - hunting or tramping. Sports like mountain biking are also discouraged.

Exercise should be done close to home, in the neighbourhood.

For example, if you live near a beach, you may go for a walk down to the waterfront. But don't drive to another suburb to go to the beach. If you have a dog, try walking it around the block instead of driving with it to a park.
At the end of the four weeks, the Government will assess the risk and community spread and decide if it's safe to drop the level to 3.

What about funerals?

Gathering together for funerals and tangi is not permitted while New Zealand is at alert level 4.

Only people from the same self-isolation bubble as the deceased person can go to the funeral home and cemetery with the deceased, and only if these are in the same region.

More specific guidelines for funerals can be found here, and tangihanga here.

A more thorough explanation of the rules can be found here.

How is this being enforced?

Compliance with the lockdown will be enforced by the police and the New Zealand Defence Force if necessary.
The Government is also looking at measures to enforce quarantine on people who refuse to observe the restrictions, and has established self-isolation and quarantine facilities for those arriving in the country.

What are essential services?

Essential services such as supermarkets, banks, GPs, pharmacies, power companies, service stations and couriers remain open.

The list also includes food and beverage production, food processing, building and construction, social services, emergency services, vets, NZ Post, KiwiRail and news media.

Since lockdown began the list has been updated to include the online sale of other goods as whiteware, heaters and computers.

A full list of essential services and businesses can be found here.

What financial help is available?

Employers should do everything possible to allow staff to work from home.

If that can't be done, all employers - along with contractors, sole traders or those self-employed - have access to the Government's wage subsidy scheme.

That means full-time employees should get $585 a week for up to 12 weeks and part-time employees (fewer than 20 hours a week) should get $350 a week.

This will be paid through normal payroll channels, and a full list of companies that have received the subsidy can be found here.

Assistance is also available through Work and Income for essential costs.

Support is available for renters, and includes a six-month freeze on residential rent increases and increased protection from having tenancies ended.

Retail banks are offering mortgagees the option to defer repayments for all residential mortgages for up to six months for customers financially affected by Covid-19.

What are schools doing?

Early learning services, schools, kura and tertiary education providers have closed for the lockdown period.

School holidays were brought forward to run from March 30, with e-learning and other distance learning options to resume on April 15.

The Government is providing more than 17,000 free computers and establishing two educational television channels to help children learn at home while schools are closed.

Families with school-aged children who don't have home internet access will also be connected, and a further 20,000 families this week and 40,000 next week will get packs of hard-copy learning materials, targeted initially to children who are too young for online learning.

More information on how the education system will operate at alert level 4 can be found here.

What are the symptoms of Covid-19?

The main symptoms are a dry cough, a high temperature (over 38C), and shortness of breath.

Other symptoms include sore throat, sneezing and runny nose, and temporary loss of smell.

These symptoms could also indicate other more common illnesses, such as cold and flu.

Shortness of breath is a sign of possible pneumonia and requires immediate medical attention.

If you have these symptoms call Healthline for free on 0800 358 5453 or your doctor immediately and they will advise you if testing is necessary.

It is not yet known exactly how long symptoms take to show after a person has been infected, but current World Health Organisation assessments suggest two to 10 days.