COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins and Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield addressed media this afternoon regarding the alert level change for Wellington. As of 6 o’clock tonight the Wellington region including Wairarapa, Kapiti and up to North of Otaki will move to alert level 2.
The move comes as a visitor from Sydney, Australia who visited Wellington last weekend tested positive for COVID-19 upon their return to Australia. The visitor was in Wellington from Saturday 19 June until Monday 21 June. Wellingtonians and visitors to Wellington last weekend are urged to check the Ministry of Health website and continue checking throughout the day.
Quarantine-Free Travel with New South Wales (NSW) has been paused for 72 hours initially while the source of infection of new cases announced in Sydney is investigated. There are now 21 recent community cases of COVID-19 in New South Wales. The pause will be reviewed again on Thursday.
The Wellington region will remain at Level 2 till 11:59 on Sunday, Cabinet will review this on Sunday.
A reminder for Alert Level 2 protocols. No more than 100 people at social gatherings this includes weddings, funerals, birthdays and tangihanga. Physical distancing, a reminder you should keep a distance of at least:
- 2 metres in public and in retail stores, like supermarkets and clothes shops
- 1 metre in most other places like workplaces, cafes, restaurants and gyms.