New Zealand will end the national containment of the archipelago this week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Monday.
She specifies that it will remain in force in Auckland, the epicenter of the Covid-19 epidemic in the country.
On the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, around three million New Zealanders will be able to go out again.
Schools will reopen Thursday for the first time in three weeks.
The head of government however stressed that in Auckland, the large city of the North Island where the Delta variant, which is much more contagious, appeared for the first time in mid-August, the containment will remain in force for at least one additional week, as the epidemic was not completely under control.
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Jacinda Ardern welcomed a declining number of cases while recalling that the Delta variant is a game-changer, preventing the lifting of restrictions in Auckland.
"We have been so successful in controlling this epidemic, the containment has been effective but it is not over," she said, stressing that the country cannot "afford the slightest mistake".
Limited gatherings, mask and QR code
The inhabitants of the rest of the archipelago will no longer be confined, but life will not resume its normal course.
Gatherings inside will be limited to 50 people and people will have to wear a mask in certain enclosed places and present a QR code.
The first local case of contamination in six months was recorded in mid-August, leading to national containment of this country of five million inhabitants.