Aucklanders are facing two more weeks of alert level 4 as the the rest of the country prepares to move to level three from Tuesday midnight. See how the day unfolded with RNZ's live blog.
Prime minister Jacinda Ardern and Director General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield head into the media briefing about the lockdown. Photo: Pool / NZME
Speaking at a media conference this afternoon, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that the districts below Auckland would remain in alert level 4 for four more days, but Auckland and Northland were "likely" looking at two more weeks of a full lockdown.
"We will need to be confident we've stamped it out and have cases contained and isolated."
Ardern said the lockdown in Auckland was working and was the best place for the region to be.
But Dr Ashley Bloomfield said officials would not need to see days of zero cases to move Auckland out of level 4.
Moving down alert levels in Auckland would require no new cases popping up unexpectedly over the coming week or two, Bloomfield said.
Meanwhile, 19 people with Covid-19 are currently being treated in Auckland hospitals, including one in ICU.
In a statement - where it was revealed that there were 70 new community cases of Covid-19 - the Health Ministry said all 19 patients were in a stable condition.
Two of the cases are in North Shore Hospital, eight are in Middlemore Hospital, and nine are in Auckland City Hospital.
See how today's events devloped with RNZ's blog: