New Zealand at Alert Level 4
UPDATE
August 18
1.16pm
The Prime Minister and the Director-General of Health are currently giving an update to the nation at the Beehive.
Here's what you need to know:
- Genome sequencing was undertaken last night and it has been confirmed that this is linked to the NSW outbreak.
- There are no genomic matches to those cases at the border to this case.
- There are a further two cases to report in the community.
- From 11:59pm, it will be compulsory to wear masks when accessing essential services.
- From 8am tomorrow, the Covid-19 vaccination programme will resume.
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UPDATE
August 18
9.10am
- Four new cases have been identified, all genomically linked to the original case
- The original case has been confirmed as having the Delta variant
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New Zealand will move to a Level 4 lockdown after a community case was detected in Auckland.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was joined by Ashley Bloomfield at a press conference, where she confirmed that Auckland and Coromandel would move to Alert Level 4 from 11.59pm for seven days, while the rest of the country will be under Level 4 conditions for three days.
It is unknown whether this case is that of the Delta variant. Bloomfield stated that genome sequencing will be completed by tomorrow morning.
There is currently 23 locations of interest, 10 in Auckland and 13 in Coromandel. Current locations of interest can be found here.
The case has no links to the border and interviews are currently being undertaken with the case to find any possible locations of interest and how they came to be in contact with Covid-19.
Here's what you need to know:
- A refresh on Level restrictions and what it means for you.
- Here are the locations of interest.
- If you have any flu-like symptoms, call the NZ Covid-19 Healthline on 0800 358 5453 or ring your GP.
- Find your closest Covid-19 testing location on the Healthpoint website
- Essential services such as supermarkets and pharmacies will remain open.
For more information, visit covid19.govt.nz.
Poll: 🤖 What skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?
The Reserve Bank has shared some pretty blunt advice: there’s no such thing as a “safe” job anymore 🛟😑
Robots are stepping into repetitive roles in factories, plants and warehouses. AI is taking care of the admin tasks that once filled many mid-level office jobs.
We want to know: As the world evolves, what skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?
Want to read more? The Press has you covered!
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52.5% Human-centred experience and communication
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14.7% Critical thinking
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30.1% Resilience and adaptability
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2.7% Other - I will share below!
Share your favourite main crop potato recipe and win a copy of our mag!
Love potatoes? We will give away free copies of the May 2026 issue to readers whose potato recipes are used in our magazine. To be in the running, make sure you email your family's favourite way to enjoy potatoes: mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, by March 1, 2026.
Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
We hope this brings a smile!
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