Bars, restaurants, and cafes will remain closed during alert level 3, but food delivery from takeaway joints can reopen, the Prime Minister has confirmed.
Jacinda Ardern said on Thursday many businesses can return to work during alert level 3, if they can practise physical distancing, but the advice is to still work from home.
There will also be a partial re-opening of education, but the Prime Minister said children who are able to are encouraged to remain home and continue distance learning.
The Prime Minister said swimming will be allowed under alert level 3, as well as surfing and fishing from the shore, but boating and jetskiing will still not be allowed.
"Now is not the time to take up a new activity that you have never done before - it is too risky," Ardern said during her daily press conference. "Do not rush to places where others may congregate, as well."
Funerals will be able to go ahead, but with no more than 10 people, and the same will go for weddings, which can only be services with no receptions.
Travel restrictions will remain, but the restriction will move from local to regional.
Ardern said this recognises that more people will travel to work, or to take children to school. But to avoid taking potential COVID-19 cases to other parts of the country, restricting movement to what is necessary "remains the goal".
Ardern said sticking to existing 'bubbles' is recommended but "some expansion is allowed", if for example, you have a caregiver that you need, children in shared care, a de facto partner caring for others, or if you're a single person who wants company.
You can find more information about 'bubble's under alert level 3 here.
She said people must work from home if they can, but where that is not possible, business may re-open but must comply with health and safety requirements around physical distancing and contactless engagement with customers.
Businesses only accessed by staff, and without a customer facing function, such as building and construction or forestry, can open under strict health and safety and physical distancing rules, Ardern said.
"There are promising signs our 'go hard and go early' elimination strategy is working and the lockdown is breaking the chain of community transmission. Any move to level 3 cannot put those gains at risk," she said.
"By design, level 3 is a progression, not a rush to normality. It carries forward many of the restrictions in place at level 4, including the requirement to mainly be at home in your bubble and to limit contact with others."
Cabinet will announce next Monday if the alert level 4 lockdown measures are to be extended, and if the country does move to alert level 3, businesses will have two days to prepare to re- open.
It comes as the Ministry of Health reported just 15 new cases of the coronavirus on Thursday, bringing the total to 1401 – far lower than most developed nations.
More information can be found here.
