New Zealand eases COVID restrictions as cases fall

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said lockdown restrictions will be partially eased outside of Auckland amid encouraging signs of case rates falling.

Aukland, the epicentre of the outbreak will remain at Level 4 for another two weeks.

“We are seeing a decrease in cases outside of households, a decreasing number of locations of interest, and the reproduction rate reducing,” Ardern said.

“All of that helps but the job is not yet done and we do need to keep going.”

Level 3 restrictions are expected to remain in place for a week, as the government continues to assess and reduce settings.