The Government has announced that New Zealand will move to Alert Level 3 at 11.59pm on Monday, April 27. Until that time, New Zealand is still in Alert Level 4 lockdown.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made the announcement during a press conference on April 20, stating that retail and food businesses may reopen during Level 3 but only for contactless orders. Bars, restaurants and other hospitality venues will otherwise remain closed.
“This week businesses will be allowed to get ready to open, including employers re-entering premises to receive stock if necessary – but we ask that in doing so they stick to social distancing and their bubbles,” said Ardern.
The country will hold at Alert Level 3 for two weeks, before a Cabinet review on 11 May.
The social rules for Level 3:
- Stay home. If you are not at work, school, exercising or getting essentials then you must be at home, the same as at Level 4.
- Work and learn from home if you can. We still want the vast majority of people working from home, and children and young people learning from home. At risk students and staff should also stay at home, and they will be supported to do so. Early learning centres and schools will physically be open for up to Year 10 for families that need them.
- Make your business COVID-19 safe. COVID-19 has spread in workplaces, so the quid pro quo of being able to open is doing it in a way that doesn’t spread the virus.
- Stay regional. You can exercise at parks or beaches within your region, but the closer to home the better. Activities must be safe – keep two metres away from anybody not in your bubble. Make minimal trips.
- Keep your bubble as small as possible. If you need to, you can expand your bubble a small amount to bring in close family, isolated people or caregivers.
- Wash your hands often with soap. Then dry them. Cough and sneeze into your elbow.
- If you are sick, stay at home and quickly seek advice from your GP or Healthline about getting a test. There is no stigma to COVID-19. We will only be successful if everyone is willing to play their part in finding it wherever it is.
- If you are sick, stay at home and seek advice from your GP or Healthline about getting a test.
The rules for businesses at Alert Level 3:
- If your business requires close physical contact it can’t operate.
- Your staff should work from home if they can.
- Customers cannot come onto your premises. Unless you are a supermarket, dairy, petrol station, pharmacy or permitted health service.
- Your business must be contactless. Your customers can pay online, over the phone or in a contactless way. Delivery or pick-up must also be contactless.
- Basic hygiene measures must be maintained. Physical distancing, hand washing and regularly cleaning surfaces. Workers must stay home if they are sick.
- If you used PPE in your business before COVID-19, then keep using it in the same way. If you didn’t use PPE in your business before COVID-19, you don’t need it now. This is advice for retailers, manufacturers and the service industries. Different advice applies to essential healthcare workers, border agencies, courts and tribunal staff, first responders and corrections staff.
Visit health.govt.nz for more advice - You must meet all other health and safety obligations.
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