Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced the restrictions that will be in place when New Zealand moves into Alert Level 2.
She says Alert Level 2 will see significantly more activity open up across the country requiring New Zealanders to play it safe and remain vigilant so the virus doesn’t bounce back.
“Every alert level to fight COVID-19 is its own battle. When you win one, it doesn’t mean the war is over, Ardern says.
“In a nutshell, Level 2 is a safer normal designed to get as many people back to work as possible and the economy back up and running in a safe way, made possible only by our collective actions at Levels 4 and 3 to beat the virus and break the chain of transmission.”
Strong public health measures
Strong public health measures such as physical distancing, good hygiene and contact tracing will be essential to making Level 2 work.
“There is a much higher level of individual responsibly required at Level 2 to prevent the spread of the virus. Even though the economy will be significantly opened up we still need everyone to remain vigilant and continue to act like you and those around you have the virus."
Businesses reopen
Businesses can restart for staff and customers and public places will reopen.
At Level 2, cleaners, hair dressers, retail stores and hospitality operations like cafes, bars and restaurants will be allowed to reopen.
“Larger retailers and malls will follow the lead of our supermarkets like limiting the number of people in store to enable enough space for physical distancing,” says Ardern.
Hair dressers and beauticians will need to wear appropriate PPE because of the close proximity to customers, she says.
Hospitality must follow the three S’s – seated, separated, single-server
Café, restaurant or bars will only be allowed to operate if they can apply the three S’s; seated, separated, single-server.
For seated, cafes, bars and restaurants will only be allowed if there as many people in the venue as chairs, so customers can be seated.
“No one regardless of venue size can have more than 100,” says Ardern.
For separated, the venue must apply social distancing with customers at least 2m apart from each other.
For single-server, the venue must offer table service so customers won't be required to go up to the counter.
As well as that, bubbles will be allowed to cease, domestic travel will recommence, schools and early learning centres will open, gatherings both indoors and outdoors will be limited to 100 people, sport and recreation will come back on-stream, including professional sports competitions, and home gatherings will need to be kept small.
“On Monday, May 11, we will make a decision on whether to move, taking into consideration the best data and advice we can, recognising the impact of restrictions, and ensuring we don’t put at risk all of the gains we have made.
“We need to balance the risk of the virus bouncing back against the strong desire to get the economy moving again."
Ardern says the government will continue to act with caution and not move before it is safe to do, so entry into Level 2 could be phased, with higher risk activity occurring when there is stronger evidence it is safe to do so.