Auckland will be going into Level 3 restrictions for three days from midday today after four cases of community transmission of Covid-19 from the same family were confirmed.
The lockdown will initially last until midnight on Friday.
Across the same timeframe, the rest of the country will be operating under Alert Level 2.
In a hastily arranged press conference last night, Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said the first case was a person in their 50s who lives in South Auckland.
That person was swabbed when they went to their doctor on Monday with symptoms and has now had two positive tests.
The person has no history of overseas travel and has not been in known contact with anyone at a managed isolation centre or at the border.
Three more members of his household have since tested positive.
Just after 9.15 on Tuesday night, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern then outlined the lockdown levels for Auckland and the rest of the country.
