Kia ora koutou,

As you will know from this afternoon’s media conference, the Prime Minister has announced changes to current alert levels in Auckland in a series of sequenced steps.

From 11.59pm tomorrow, Tāmaki Makaurau remains in Alert Level 3 with some key changes:

• Gatherings can take place involving two households of a maximum of 10 people, outside.
• Physical activity can also take place outside in groups of no more than 10.

Initially, stage one for Aucklanders will mean more scope to stay active during the school holidays and connect with friends and whanau.

Subsequent steps will see a re-opening of public facilities, retail and hospitality with restrictions, including ongoing gathering limits.

As usual, the changes require us to interpret the new guidance and issue new formal advice. We will do this as quickly as possible, though this may take some time as the relevant agencies finalise the details.

Note that:

• Raglan, Te Kauwhata, Huntly, Ngāruawāhia, Hamilton City and some surrounding areas are at Alert Level 3 until 11.59pm on Friday October 8.
• The rest of the country remains in Alert Level 2 with an evolution to gathering limits.

Thanks for your patience as we work through the details of these new changes. In the interim, we suggest you visit the United Against Covid web site for more information around today’s announcement.

Finally, please continue to help us spread the message that vaccination is the fastest way for us all to get back to doing the range of physical activity we love.

Ngā mihi,

Raelene Castle