Snap lockdown disrupts dealers

Dealers and other automotive businesses across Auckland are back to contactless trading or shutting their doors after the region moved into Covid-19 alert level three.

The government introduced a snap 72-hour lockdown for Auckland from 11.59pm on Sunday, February 14, following the detection of three community cases of the more transmissible UK strain of the coronavirus.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, pictured, announced the rest of the country will move to alert level two for the same period and the restrictions will be reviewed by Cabinet every 24 hours.

“Three days, though, should give us enough time to gather further information, undertake large scale testing, and establish if there has been wider community transmission,” she explains. 

“That is what we believe the cautious approach requires and is the right thing to do.”

The lockdown may extend longer if health officials are not confident they have contained the outbreak in South Auckland, which has affected three members of one family.

Ardern says if the lockdown, which marks a return to restrictions not seen since the end of August, does go beyond the initial three days then the government plans to put in place financial support for businesses.

Under alert level two, businesses can open to the public if following public health guidance including physical distancing and record keeping. 

At level three, businesses cannot offer services that involve close personal contact, unless it is a supermarket, pharmacy, petrol station or hardware store providing goods to trade customers, or it is an emergency or critical situation.

Other businesses can open premises, but cannot physically interact with customers.

For more details on the alert levels, click here.