Later in the day, nine floors above the bunker, Cabinet decided to lift Auckland's alert level 3 lockdown and to ease restrictions across the rest of Aotearoa from 6am tomorrow. If the country's Covid situation doesn't worsen, Ardern said the Super City could move to alert level 1 before next weekend. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Emergency Management Minister Kiri Allan who had an early morning text exchange after the earthquake. Photo / Mark MitchellBeyond the alert level decision, Ardern said she would outline what the vaccination campaign will mean for New Zealand's Covid elimination strategy. Keeping Auckland in alert level 2 for another week would allow for a full 14-day transmission cycle to ensure there weren't any cases that haven't already been ring-fenced.

Source: New Zealand Herald March 05, 2021 16:14 UTC