Alert Level 3
Everyday life
Stay home if you can to avoid any risk of spread. You must work from home unless you’re not able to. Children should learn at home if possible.
If you are unwell
- If you’re sick, stay home. Don’t go to work or school. Don’t socialise.
- If you have cold, flu or COVID-19 symptoms call your doctor or Healthline and get advice about being tested.
- If you have been told to self-isolate you legally must do so immediately.
Get tested if you have cold, flu or COVID-19 symptoms. Tests are free
Self-isolation, quarantine and testing
If you get a COVID-19 test, you legally must stay home in self-isolation until you receive your results.
How testing and quarantine works
Good hygiene
It’s important that you use basic hygiene measures, including washing your hands, coughing or sneezing into your elbow and cleaning surfaces.
How to practise good hygiene and stay healthy
Keep track of where you’ve been
We recommend you keep track of where you’ve been and who you’ve seen. This helps with rapid contact tracing if it’s required.
How to keep track of where you’ve been
Businesses legally must display the NZ COVID Tracer QR code poster.
Personal movement
At Alert Level 3, you legally must stay within your household bubble whenever you’re not at work or school. You can expand this to:
- connect with close family and whānau
- bring in caregivers, or
- support isolated people.
It’s important to protect your bubble. Keep your bubble exclusive and only include people where it will keep you and them safe and healthy. If anyone within your bubble feels unwell, they legally must immediately self-isolate from everyone else within the bubble.
Do not invite or allow social visitors, such as friends, extended family and whānau, to enter your home.
Physical distancing
Keep your distance when outside your home.
You should keep a distance of at least:
- 2 metres in public and retail stores, like supermarkets
- 1 metre in controlled environments, like workplaces and schools.
Maintaining physical distancing
Face coverings
You’re strongly encouraged to wear a face covering when you’re outside your home and in a place where it’s hard to stay 2 metres away from other people, like in shops.
You legally must wear a face covering on public transport.
Face covering advice and requirements
Local travel
You can travel within your local area, for example going to work or school, shopping, or getting exercise. Public transport can continue to operate with strict health and safety requirements.
Travel between regions
At Alert Level 3 travel between regions is heavily restricted.
Gatherings and events
Gatherings of up to 10 people can continue, but only for:
- wedding services
- funerals and tangihanga.
Physical distancing and public health measures legally must be maintained.
- Gatherings and events at Alert Level 3
- Funerals and tangihanga at Alert Level 3
- Religious communities at Alert Level 3
Public venues
Public venues legally must close. This includes libraries, museums, cinemas, food courts, gyms, pools, playgrounds and markets.
Exercise and recreation
Now is not the time to take up new activities, or expose yourself or your bubble to any risk. You can do low-risk recreation activities in your local area.
How to exercise and do recreational activities safely at Alert Level 3
Workplaces and businesses
At Alert Level 3, there are restrictions to keep workers safe, limit interaction with customers and help prevent the spread of COVID-19. We recommend staff working from home if they can.
How to do business at Alert Level 3
Golden rules for business at Alert Level 3
- If your business requires close physical contact it can’t operate.
- We recommend your staff work from home if they can.
- Businesses need to display a QR code and have an alternative contact tracing system. We recommend making sure people either scan in or provide their contact details.
- Customers cannot come onto your premises — unless you are a supermarket, dairy, butcher, fishmonger, greengrocer, petrol station, pharmacy or permitted health service.
- Your business legally must be contactless. Your customers can pay online, over the phone or in a contactless way. Delivery or pick-up legally must also be contactless.
- Basic hygiene measures legally must be maintained. Physical distancing, hand washing and regularly cleaning surfaces. Workers legally must stay home if they are sick.
- Staff legally must remain a minimum of 1 metre apart at all times where practical. Other measures, such as PPE including face coverings, we recommend being used where appropriate.
- Different advice applies to essential healthcare workers, border agencies, courts and tribunal staff, first responders and corrections staff. You can get further advice from the Ministry of Health(external link).
- You legally must meet all other health and safety obligations.
Financial support
If you’re having trouble with money, there may be support for you.
At-risk people
People at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 are encouraged to take additional precautions when leaving home.
Education
Where possible we encourage students to learn from home. Schools can safely open but will have limited capacity.