NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Covid-19 coronavirus: New Zealand going into lockdown - what you can and can't do under level 4

NZ Herald
17 Aug, 2021 06:58 AM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

August 17 2021 Auckland and Coromandel will go into level 4 lockdown for seven days – and the rest of the country for three days – from 11.59pm tonight.

New Zealand will move to the highest Covid-19 alert level from 11.59pm tonight after a Covid-19 community case was detected in Auckland.

The case is a 58-year-old Devonport man who travelled to the Coromandel over the weekend with his wife, who has since tested negative.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield announced the details of the new case at a press conference this afternoon.

Kiwis will be plunged into lockdown tonight for three days while Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula would likely remain at level 4 for seven days.

Here's what level four means for you.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Level four - dubbed the "eliminate" phase - means people must stay at home in their bubbles - travelling out only for essential personal movement.

Essential reasons for leaving the home briefly included:
• a physical exercise in your neighbourhood
• visiting the supermarket, dairy or pharmacy
• Necessary medical care or getting a test

Ardern urged Kiwis to wear a mask and maintain two metres distance when undertaking these activities.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The underlining principle for level four is to reduce contact between people to a bare minimum with essential contact only.

"That means the simplest thing New Zealanders can do to reduce the spread of virus is to stay at home. Beating Delta means lifting our game."

"I ask New Zealanders to follow the rules to the letter," Ardern said.

The household bubble is back, Ardern said, which is reduced to the people in your immediate household or others are dependent on it.

Once you are in a bubble, you must stay in it and others could not join it.

People who live completely isolated could make a bubble with one other person they had contact with.

Level 4 measures
• People are instructed to stay at home in their bubble other than for essential personal movement
• Safe recreational activity is allowed in local area
• Travel is severely limited
• All gatherings are cancelled and all public venues are closed
• Businesses are closed except for essential services, such as supermarkets, pharmacies, clinics, petrol stations and lifeline utilities
• Educational facilities are closed
• Rationing of supplies and requisitioning of facilities is possible
• Reprioritisation of healthcare services

New Zealand's alert level system

New Zealand uses an alert level system as a way of managing and minimising the risk of Covid-19 in our country.

New Zealand's four-tier system - which was first introduced to Kiwis in March last year - is a way of helping people understand what risk is associated with current Covid-19 cases and what measures need to be followed.

Level 1: Prepare

The system starts with level 1 - dubbed the "prepare" stage - meaning the disease is contained in New Zealand but uncontrolled overseas.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Border restrictions remain in place including limiting who can travel here, health screening and testing in place for almost all arrivals and MIQ for anyone who is not travelling quarantine-free.

Under alert level 1, people are urged to stay home if they're sick and get tested if they have Covid-19 symptoms.

A deserted Queen St, Auckland, in New Zealand's first week of lockdown in March 2020. Photo / Brett Phibbs
A deserted Queen St, Auckland, in New Zealand's first week of lockdown in March 2020. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Face coverings must legally be worn on public transport, domestic flights and by taxi and ride-share drivers. Masks aren't compulsory for passengers but are strongly encouraged by health officials.

Level 2: Reduce

Under level 2, gatherings can not have more than 100 people - including weddings, civil union ceremonies, birthdays, funerals and tangihanga.

You can travel locally and to other regions that are at level 2 or lower, but need to do it in a safe way.

Those with cold, flu and Covid-19 symptoms, who are awaiting a test or need to self-isolate, should not travel.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Exercise and recreational activities are allowed and businesses can open under level 2 as well but must follow public health rules.

Health officials urge people to keep their distance from others when they're outside of their home - including two metres in public and retail stores, like supermarkets, and one metre in most other places, like workplaces and cafes.

Like level 1, face coverings must legally be worn on public transport, domestic flights and by taxi and ride-share drivers. Rise-share passengers are strongly encouraged by health officials to wear masks.

People are encouraged to use the Covid-19 tracer app and businesses must display the NZ Covid Tracer QR code poster.

Level 3: Restrict

People must stay within their household bubble whenever they are not at work or school.

Businesses that require close physical contact can't open - while those that do stay open must follow public health guidelines.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

While people can travel within their local areas, such as going to the supermarket or getting exercise, travel between regions is heavily restricted.

Public venues - including libraries, museums, cinemas, food courts, gyms, pools, playgrounds and markets - must close.

Public transport continues to operate under level 3. Gatherings of up to 10 people can go ahead but only for weddings, civil union ceremonies, tangihanga and funerals.

People are encouraged to use the Covid-19 Tracer App to keep track of where they have been while businesses legally must display the NZ Covid Tracer QR code poster.

Like levels 1 and 2, face coverings must legally be worn on public transport, domestic flights and by taxi and ride-share drivers. Rise-share passengers are strongly encouraged by health officials to wear masks.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

'Serious injuries': Crews work to free people after Tasman SH6 crash

19 Jun 09:24 AM
Premium
Opinion

Opinion: Jewish communities facing increased threats

19 Jun 09:00 AM
New Zealand

Thirty-one players win $12k each in Lotto's Second Division draw

19 Jun 07:57 AM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

'Serious injuries': Crews work to free people after Tasman SH6 crash

'Serious injuries': Crews work to free people after Tasman SH6 crash

19 Jun 09:24 AM

Emergency services were called to the scene about 8.30pm.

Premium
Opinion: Jewish communities facing increased threats

Opinion: Jewish communities facing increased threats

19 Jun 09:00 AM
Thirty-one players win $12k each in Lotto's Second Division draw

Thirty-one players win $12k each in Lotto's Second Division draw

19 Jun 07:57 AM
Probe into man who abused girl as he read her stories led to another sinister finding

Probe into man who abused girl as he read her stories led to another sinister finding

19 Jun 07:00 AM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP