Coronavirus: New Zealand and Australia start 'relaxing' lockdown rules
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Teacher Allie Stucke writes instructions on the white board for the small number of students returning to her school in Auckland, New Zealand, on Tuesday
New Zealand has started to relax some of its lockdown rules, which were put in place to fight the spread of coronavirus.
Lowering its alert level means that some non-essential business, healthcare and schools were able to open on Tuesday morning.
Some schools and childcare facilities opened and around 400,000 adults headed back to work - people are also allowed to get takeaway food again.
New Zealand has reported fewer than 1,500 confirmed or probable cases of coronavirus, after the country managed to contain the virus early on.
New Zealand's slightly less strict lockdown
New Zealand's prime minister warned that the country had not completely won the battle against the virus yet
Here's what's changing in New Zealand, now the country has shifted one step down from its highest alert level.
• People still have to stay in what's called their "household bubble", but they can make that bubble bigger now: to meet close family, or support isolated people
• Schools can reopen but have to keep in place social distancing
• Restaurants can now do "contactless" takeaway
• You are allowed to drive short distances for exercise and fun, and people can go to parks and beaches. You're allowed to do this with people from your household bubble
• Gatherings with large numbers of people, such as sporting events, will remain cancelled and public venues closed
• Adults should work from home where possible but businesses are allowed to open if they can provide contactless service
Cars line up at a McDonald's drive-through in Auckland, New Zealand, as people are allowed to get takeaway food again
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has warned that despite the gradual lifting of the lockdown, New Zealand was not "out of the woods".
She urged people to continue to stay at home, and work from home where possible, warning that "no one wants a second wave" of the pandemic.
What's happening in Australia?
Young surfers carry their boards on Bondi Beach after it reopened following a five week closure in Sydney
Australia says it had only 12 new cases of the virus in the past day - with only one coming from an "unknown source".
As the country seeks to move into a new phase, more than 2.4 million people have downloaded a special app to help track where the virus has been found.
In Sydney, Australia's largest city, isolation rules will be relaxed from the end of the week to allow households to have two visitors at a time.
With the area now reporting just small daily increases in cases, officials say visits can be made for mental health and social reasons - meaning people will be able to visit family and friends again.
Council guards still patrolled the surf and people had to follow a red-tape marked path to the water before leaving through signed exits
Sydney's famous Bondi Beach, and two neighbouring beaches, also reopened on Tuesday delighting the people who live nearby.
Swimmers and surfers were there from the early morning to dive into the ocean after a five-week ban.
However, no activities on the sand (like volleyball for instance) are allowed - and the beach will remain closed on weekends to avoid big crowds.
- Published27 August 2020
- Published27 August 2020
- Published19 May 2020
