The Prime Minister says she is not waiting for Covid-19 case numbers to start dropping before easing restrictions for Auckland.
The government is being urged to hold off on its planned easing of the city's level three rules after daily case numbers hit a record 200 on Saturday.
Cabinet has agreed in principle to move Auckland to alert level 3, step 2, at 11.59pm on Tuesday, which would see retail reopen and larger groups allowed to meet outside. Whether this will go ahead is set to be confirmed on Monday.
Jacinda Ardern told Morning Report case numbers will continue to grow, but that's not the only thing government will be looking at when making decisions about restrictions.
"It is not the case that we are waiting for a decline in cases in order to make step down decisions at this point.
"As I've said, our goals that we've set have been around reaching 90 percent fully vaccinated before we move into our new framework, and we see an easing of restrictions. So, vaccines do play a heavy role now, and we're moving into the phase where they're starting to play a role in our decision making.
"The alternative is that we reach those very high rates, but because of base numbers, we see no movement at all in restrictions. We don't see that as tenable, however, we do want to make sure we step down carefully as we go."
Ardern says another factor will be Aucklanders' ability to keep following stricter rules in an extended lockdown.
