Covid 19 coronavirus - Latest case numbers; are we ready to lift lockdown?

Kiwis will find out at 4pm tomorrow whether the country will come out of lockdown and move to alert level 3.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made the announcement at this afternoon's daily coronavirus update, accompanied by Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield.

When asked if we were likely to stay in level 4 for another week until contact tracing is at a gold standard, Arden said: "We are not going to get into hypotheticals."

But Bloomfield responded to a number of questions that have been raised about contact-tracing, saying that the system was being improved to be able to trace 80 per cent of the close contacts from a new case within three days.

There are nine new coronavirus cases in New Zealand and one new death since yesterday, he said.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is giving her final press conference before she decides if the lockdown can be lifted. Photo / Pool

The death brings the total toll to 12 and is of a man in Invercargill at home who was linked to the Bluff wedding cluster. It is the first coronavirus death in the community.

The man, aged in his 70s, died in his Kingswell home on Tuesday evening. The Bluff wedding cluster has been connected to more than 90 cases, including the death of the groom's father.

Bloomfield said it was important to get a good understanding of the death so a post-mortem was ordered - leading to the delay in confirmation that it was Covid-related.

The new cases are made up of four confirmed cases and