Finance Minister Grant Robertson says he is as keen as anyone else to move to level one next week - but Cabinet will make the call based on the latest information.
Photo: Pool / Getty Images / Hagen Hopkins
On Monday, ministers will assess a range of criteria, including the latest health advice and data on the economic impact, before deciding whether to move from alert level two to level one.
"We've done incredibly well as a country to get to this point," Robertson said.
"We're sticking to our guns on our view that doing it once and doing it right is the way to go.
"I'm very optimistic - we've got another day of zero cases today and I hope that we have two more days of zero cases over the weekend, and then Cabinet will have its decision on Monday."
Cabinet is likely to give 48 hours notice of the change in alert levels.
See how the rest of the day's Covid-19 developments unfolded with RNZ's live blog.
- If you have symptoms of the coronavirus, call the NZ Covid-19 Healthline on 0800 358 5453 (+64 9 358 5453 for international SIMs) or call your GP - don't show up at a medical centre
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