Update – Saturday 26 June 2021

Here’s todays update

  • There have been no cases of COVID-19 reported in the community. Wellington remains at Alert Level 2.
  • Cabinet will consider the Alert Level settings and any changes will be announced tomorrow, Sunday 27 June 2021
  • On Wednesday (23 June) at 6.00pm, the Greater Wellington Region moved to Alert Level 2. The area includes Ōtaki, Waikawa Beach, Manakau, Wairarapa, and Kāpiti Coast.
  • A map of the confirmed boundaries that apply under Alert Level 2 is on the COVID-19 website here.
  • The Alert Level will remain in place until 11:59pm tomorrow, Sunday 27 June 2021.
  • The rest of the country remains at Alert Level 1.
  • While travel is not restricted under Alert Level 2, you should take your alert level behaviours with you if travelling out of the Greater Wellington region to the rest of New Zealand.
  • In the case of a move to Alert Level 3, we recommend that councils in the Greater Wellington Region and surrounding districts ensure that they are familiar with the process for applying for exemptions for workers to travel across alert level boundaries. Information on how to apply is available from MBIE at Business travel across Alert Level Boundaries — business.govt.nz .
  • The Response Unit remains on hand to support you, you can send enquiries to your usual Taituarā, LGNZ, DIA contacts or this inbox: LGCGcovid19response@dia.govt.nz

Over the weekend

  • The Response Unit will be operating on-call over the weekend and will send out updates if required.
  • Sports and recreation venues, competitions, organisations and clubs across the Wellington region should be enforcing appropriate restrictions on gatherings (including sports games).
    • Where weekend sports are going ahead, organisers should be actively reminding people of the Alert Level 2 measures and encouraging compliance across any communications, social media channels and on the day.    
    • For all council owned and managed venues, please ensure methods are in place for contact tracing, physical distancing, those who are unwell are staying home and getting a test and other hygiene measures are being used.
  • Continue encouraging diligent use of the NZ COVID Tracer app and mask wearing in public places where physical distancing isn’t possible.

If you live in the Greater Wellington region, Alert Level 2 means you need to:

  • Keep physical distancing of 2 metres from people you don’t know when out in public.
  • Keep 1 metre physical distancing in controlled environments like workplaces, where practical.
  • Wear a face covering on public transport, and in public where physical distancing is not possible.
  • Stay at home if you are sick; don’t go to work or school and don’t socialise.
  • If you have symptoms of a cold or flu, or aches and pains, call your doctor or Healthline and ask about getting tested.
  • No more than 100 people at social gatherings, including weddings, birthdays, funerals and tangihanga.
  • Keep washing your hands and keep track of where you have been at all times.
  • Visit theUnite Against COVID-19 website for a list of locations of interest, more information about the Alert Levels, and testing locations in Wellington and the rest of the country.

Keeping communities safe

Remember the four golden rules:

  • Wash your hands
  • Scan QR codes
  • Turn on Bluetooth tracing on the NZ COVID Tracer app
  • Stay home if you’re feeling unwell and get advice from Healthline about a COVID-19 test

Face coverings are mandatory on all forms of public transport and domestic flights across the country no matter the Alert Level.

Epidemic notice remains in force

The following provisions will remain in place until the Principal Notice expires or is revoked.

  • the amendments to enable council meetings via audio or visual link to meet quorum requirements regardless of Council Standing Orders;
    • the provisions enabling council meetings to be open to the public through online access and to post meeting agendas, reports and minutes on council websites rather than physical locations;
    • new members of Council can continue to make their statutory declaration (oath of office) via audio or audio-visual link; and
    • the Order-in-Council mechanism for making further changes to by-election timing and provisions enabling local authority chief executives to delay the commencement of by-election timeframes.

Update – Sunday 27 June 2021 

Here’s todays update

  • Cabinet met today and have decided to extend the Alert Level 2 settings for the Wellington region for 48 hours, until 11.59pm on Tuesday 29 June 2021.    
  • There have been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported in the community.
  •  Wastewater testing for Thursday 24th June and Friday 25th June shows COVID-19 has not been detected at any of the sites around Wellington, Hutt Valley and Porirua.  
  • To make a decision to move down alert levels, more testing and more results are needed to be confident we don’t have transmission or any potential cases of COVID-19 in the community as a result of exposure to the Sydney case.
  • The Ministry of Health has confirmed the indeterminate COVID-19 test result in the Wairarapa region was not due to an active COVID-19 infection. A follow-up test from the person returned a negative result. 
  • Yesterday the household close contact of the case that travelled to Wellington tested positive, after initially testing negative. While they are not considered infectious while they were in Wellington, this shows Case A was able to transmit the virus to other people and that suggests Case A was in the early stages of infection at the end of their stay in New Zealand. 

The Wellington region is in Alert Level 2

  • On Wednesday (23 June) at 6.00pm, the Greater Wellington Region moved to Alert Level 2. The area includes Ōtaki, Waikawa Beach, Manakau, Wairarapa, and Kāpiti Coast.
  • A map of the confirmed boundaries that apply under Alert Level 2 is on the COVID-19 website here.
  • The rest of the country remains at Alert Level 1.
  • While travel is not restricted under Alert Level 2, you should take your alert level behaviours with you if travelling out of the Greater Wellington region to the rest of New Zealand.
  • In case of a move to Alert Level 3, we recommend that councils in the Greater Wellington Region and surrounding districts ensure that they are familiar with the process for applying for exemptions for workers to travel across alert level boundaries. Information on how to apply is available from MBIE at Business travel across Alert Level Boundaries — business.govt.nz .
  • The Response Unit remains on hand to support you, you can send enquiries to your usual Taituarā, LGNZ, DIA contacts or this inbox: LGCGcovid19response@dia.govt.nz

If you live in the Greater Wellington region, Alert Level 2 means you need to:

  • Keep physical distancing of 2 metres from people you don’t know when out in public.
  • Keep 1 metre physical distancing in controlled environments like workplaces, where practical.
  • Wear a face covering on public transport, and in public where physical distancing is not possible.
  • Stay at home if you are sick; don’t go to work or school and don’t socialise.
  • If you have symptoms of a cold or flu, or aches and pains, call your doctor or Healthline and ask about getting tested.
  • No more than 100 people at social gatherings, including weddings, birthdays, funerals and tangihanga.
  • Keep washing your hands and keep track of where you have been at all times.
  • Visit theUnite Against COVID-19 website for a list of locations of interest, more information about the Alert Levels, and testing locations in Wellington and the rest of the country.

Keeping communities safe

Remember the four golden rules:

  • Wash your hands
  • Scan QR codes
  • Turn on Bluetooth tracing on the NZ COVID Tracer app
  • Stay home if you’re feeling unwell and get advice from Healthline about a COVID-19 test

Face coverings are mandatory on all forms of public transport and domestic flights across the country no matter the Alert Level.

Epidemic notice remains in force

The following provisions will remain in place until the Principal Notice expires or is revoked: 

  • the amendments to enable council meetings via audio or visual link to meet quorum requirements regardless of Council Standing Orders;
    • the provisions enabling council meetings to be open to the public through online access and to post meeting agendas, reports and minutes on council websites rather than physical locations;
    • new members of Council can continue to make their statutory declaration (oath of office) via audio or audio-visual link;
    • the Order-in-Council mechanism for making further changes to by-election timing and provisions enabling local authority chief executives to delay the commencement of by-election timeframes.

Update - Tuesday 29 June 2021

  • Cabinet met today and have decided that the Wellington region will move back to Alert Level 1 at 11.59pm tonight (29 June 2021).
  • While there have been no cases in the community, the official advice is to remain vigilant. If you have cold and flu symptoms you are encouraged to stay home and get tested. You can visit the Unite Against COVID-19 website for testing locations.
  • Face coverings are mandatory on all forms of public transport and domestic flights across the country no matter the Alert Level.

Keeping communities safe

Remember the four golden rules:

  • Wash your hands
  • Scan QR codes
  • Turn on Bluetooth tracing on the NZ COVID Tracer app
  • Stay home if you’re feeling unwell and get advice from Healthline about a COVID-19 test