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Dealerships heading back to level two

Drop in alert levels for everywhere but Auckland to kick in from midnight Tuesday.
Posted on 06 September, 2021
Dealerships heading back to level two

Dealers across most of the country can welcome back customers to their yards and showrooms from 11.59pm on September 7, following an easing of Covid-19 restrictions.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced all regions, except for Auckland, will move to alert level two from that time.

It will be welcome news for automotive businesses who have had their operations severely limited since the latest lockdown started on August 17.

The Auckland region remains at alert level four for another week with Cabinet set to review the situation on September 13. 

Ardern said there will be some new rules at what she described as “Delta level two”, including face coverings being mandatory inside public venues.

Staff at public-facing businesses open at level two must also wear face coverings.

Indoor hospitality venues will have a limit of 50 people, with the cap 100 for outdoor sites. Scanning will also be compulsory for bars, nightclubs, concerts and hairdressers, or any other place where there is close contact.

Another measure for “Delta level two” is that venues such as gyms and museums must follow the two-metre rule around social distancing, putting them in the same category as retail sites.

Ardern reminded people the key points were to “wear a mask, scan everywhere you go”.

The whole of the country first went into lockdown on August 17 following the discovery of a community Delta variant case the previous day.

Alert level four stayed in place for two weeks, before everywhere south of Auckland’s southern boundary shifted to level three at 11.59pm on August 31.

Northland dropped down from the top alert level two days later after wastewater testing showed no traces of coronavirus.

There were 20 new cases of Covid-19 linked to the community Delta outbreak on September 6, taking the total number of cases to 821. 

For details of the alert level rules, click here.