Over the next 48 hours, New Zealand will begin the process of moving into level 4 lockdown, meaning self-isolation will be enforced for everyone who is not in an essential service.

Jacinda Ardern went live to announce the plan to keep COVID-19 under control while we still have relatively low numbers of cases.

Schools will close from tomorrow onwards, with only the children of essential workers such as hospital staff and police allowed to attend. Complete shutdown will begin on Wednesday at 11.59 p.pm.

The lockdown excludes things like going to the supermarket or the doctor.

The Prime Minister asked the country to please respect the decision and self-isolate wherever possible. “We did not take this decision likely. We knew the magnitude of what we were doing, but we will save lives with these measures we are taking now”.

The $150,000 cap put on the amount given to businesses to keep them afloat during this time has been lifted.