Covid 19 Delta Outbreak: Mayor says move to level 3 relief for strained Aucklanders

September 20 2021 Auckland will end its five-week alert level 4 lockdown when it moves to level 3 for two weeks from 11.59 pm tomorrow night. The rest of New Zealand will remain at level 2 - with one part of the Waikato with three new cases to temporarily move into a "bespoke" level 4 for a short period.

Auckland's mayor says residents will be relieved the city is dropping to alert level 3 this week after pressure had been mounting on businesses, jobs and people's mental health.

The move to level 3 will allow more businesses to begin pulling in income again as restaurants and cafes will be among stores able to sell goods through click and collect payment options.

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"Level 3 provides some limited extra freedoms to Aucklanders and will allow some businesses such as the construction industries to restart operations as well as click-and-collect from retail and hospitality industries," Goff said.

The lockdown now in its 34th day has been the longest yet in New Zealand since the pandemic began and comes at a tremendous cost for the team of 1.6 million in Tāmaki Makaurau.

Goff this morning had called for a move to level 3, telling RNZ's Morning Report the current lockdown had been harder than previous restrictions due to ongoing uncertainty about whether the country could get on top of the Delta variant of Covid.

The psychological pressures of the long level 4 lockdown are growing, and the financial pressures on businesses and jobs," he said.

"Families are separated, there's people who don't have income coming in ... there are lot of people who are just on the edge at the moment."

However, with the decision now made to move to level 3, Goff urged Aucklanders to get vaccinated as quickly as possible in a bid to try and avoid future strict lockdowns.

"Keeping vaccination numbers high is critical," he said.

"We are fast approaching 80 per cent of Aucklanders getting their first dose. We need to maintain this momentum and seek to vaccinate the maximum number of Aucklanders to reduce the chance of Covid being a risk to people's wellbeing."

There is still 300,000 city residents needing to get their first vaccination, but teams are making strong inroads into giving them the opportunity and encouragement to get a jab.

"If you have not yet been vaccinated, make it a priority this week," he said.

Health teams say there are plenty of vaccines available, meaning no one should feel like they need to wait.

Goff also urged residents to continue to self-isolate and get a test if they have any Covid-19 symptoms.

"Wear a mask when using public transport or accessing essential services and wash your hands frequently," he said.

Fellow Auckland Councillor from the Manurewa-Papakura Ward Daniel Newman also said Aucklanders had paid a heavy price during the lockdown.

Vaccinations are now the only way to staunch the misery of protracted lockdowns, which have denied Aucklanders their personal freedom, cost hundreds of millions of dollars and strained community welfare agencies across the region, he said.

"When Delta did escape into the general population it hammered vulnerable communities in South Auckland first," he said.

"The penalty for not getting ahead of Delta with an early mass vaccination programme is the longest lockdown applied to the most vulnerable people, thousands of whom live in large and overcrowded households where it is impossible to maintain physical distance."

"Vaccinations are the only way out of this miserable lockdown."

He said New Zealand's public health system cannot cope with increased hospitalisations that occur when unvaccinated people get exposed to Covid-19.

On the other hand when people are fully vaccinated there is a very low rate of serious illnesses resulting in hospitalisations, he said.

Newman said will join health teams from the Manurewa Marae as a worker with the Shot Cuzz vaccination bus from 1pm tomorrow at the Clendon Shopping Centre at Roscommon Rd, Manurewa.

The Pak'nSave supermarket at the Clendon Shopping Centre has been repeatedly identified by the Ministry of Health as a location of interest.

Goff, meanwhile, thanked Aucklanders for their hard work.

"Continue to look out for one another. I know this has been a difficult time, but we can get through it if we keep working together," he said.