August 23 2021
New Zealand will stay in alert level 4 lockdown until at least midnight on Friday, and Auckland will stay locked down until at least midnight on Tuesday next week. Earlier today it was announced there are now 107 Covid cases in NZ.
The South Island will remain locked down for the rest of the week at least, despite no recorded Covid-19 cases in the community.
Auckland faces a longer lockdown, for now at least. Photo / Brett Phibbs
She revealed there were more than 100 contacts in the South Island, as far as was known.
Cabinet had discussed practical situations if different regions were at different levels and what it would mean for movement between different regions, Ardern said. There had also been discussions on boundary options to help decide on any regional splits.
"We don't think we have reached the peak of this outbreak, or the edges of it," she said.
"Cases may continue to get worse before they get better."
Cabinet decided to keep all of New Zealand locked down in alert level 4 until 11.59pm Friday. Auckland stays in lockdown until Tuesday at least.
The measures will be reviewed again on Friday afternoon.
Jacinda Ardern holds up the heat map of infection at today's press conference. Photo / Pool
Mt Hutt ski area manager James Mackenzie earlier said he hoped the South Island could be viewed as its own bubble so alert levels could be lifted.
"We've had a good start to the season. We're looking forward to getting out of this level 4," he said.
"We're hoping we might be able to get away with a phased return to operations at Mt Hutt which can't really happen until level 2, but at level 3 we can get things done, get some maintenance done."
He said if alert levels don't change soon, they might consider extending their season.
"We've got a really solid base now, nearly a metre in the bass area up to two and a half on the summit and if things stayed where they were, we might consider pushing our season a little longer," he said.
"We're already scheduled to go until October 17 but if there's still an appetite for skiing beyond that, we'll definitely look at that."
