Update - Monday 20 April 2020

Transition to Alert Level 3

Today the Prime Minister announced that we will be moving to Alert Level 3 at 11.59pm on Monday 27 April.
It is vital that everyone knows we are still under Alert Level 4 until that time, and that all Alert Level 4 restrictions remain in place.
The Alert Level 3 will then remain in place for two further weeks before Cabinet reviews how we are tracking and makes further decisions on 11 May.
The Prime Minister’s additional messages include:
Over this next week businesses will be allowed to safely start getting ready to open, including employers re-entering premises to receive stock if necessary. All-of-Government Golden Rules for Business are attached.
At Alert Level 3 we need to be even more vigilant. Once we transition, we will all need to follow the Golden Rules for everyone at Alert Level 3:
- Stay home.
- Work and learn from home if you can.
- Make your business COVID-19 safe.
- Stay regional.
- Keep your bubble as small as possible.
- Wash your hands often with soap. Then dry them.
- If you are sick, stay at home and quickly seek advice from your GP or Healthline about getting a test.

Alert Level 3 enables more businesses to operate where they can do so in a safe way. We acknowledge that this may not look substantively different for local government as many of our operations were maintained as an essential service under Alert Level 4.
On 17 April the Response Unit shared the attached guidance and FAQs (slightly updated) on council services and operations at Alert Level 3 – these are attached again today and can be found below:

Read more about Council services and operations through alert levels 3 and 4 - updated 23 April 2020 (PDF, 919KB)

Frequently asked questions - Alert level 3 (PDF, 520KB)

This guidance may help you to consider what Alert Level 3 means for specific operations/services.
We are keen to ensure this guidance is fit-for-purpose and aligned across New Zealand businesses as Level 3 is put into practice. If you have any enquiries around council services/operations at Level 3 please send these to the Response Unit LGCGcovid19response@dia.govt.nz or your regular SOLGM/LGNZ/DIA contacts.

As the nation prepares to transition to Alert Level 3, now is the time to begin communicating with your communities about what Alert Level 3 may look like for your services.
You may wish to update your websites and social media and clearly communicate changes to services your communities may need to be aware of ahead of time. One example would be if you plan to resume monitoring paid on street parking.
For further updated All-of-Government information please go to www.covid19.govt.nz

Information on life under Alert levels 3, 2 and 1 is now available on COVID19.govt.nz for example the Golden Rules for Business (PDF, 488KB).
A wide range of new content has been added to the business.govt.nz website regarding workplace restrictions at different alert levels.
Businesses should carefully consider how to safely operate at each alert level based on their individual circumstances. WorkSafe has created guidance about safe working during this pandemic here: https://worksafe.govt.nz/managing-health-and-safety/novel-coronavirus-covid-19/alert-level-4-whats-worksafes-approach/
The Ministry of Health also has specific infectious disease control advice for workplaces here.
The guidance attached references establishing ‘work groups’ for those staff that must work in pairs/groups. These groups are intended to ensure staff are exposed to a consistent set of their colleagues. The groups must be able to operate safely and are not exempt from the above requirements.

We now have a Response Unit webpage on the Department of Internal Affairs website that is designed to pull together useful information for the sector.
Recent editions of this daily update can be found there and we will link to other guidance for the sector in the coming days.
The webpage can be found at https://www.dia.govt.nz/Local-Government-COVID-19-Response