Kiwis overwhelmingly back uncompromising measures like the lockdown coming into force on Wednesday - but don't think they will save the economy from being smashed by coronavirus.

As New Zealand prepares to go into full lockdown at 11.59pm on Wednesday, new polling conducted over the weekend and exclusively provided to Stuff shows the public are increasingly backing the Government and its actions over the coronavirus pandemic, which has now seen 155 confirmed cases in New Zealand.

The Coronavirus Tracker, conducted by Utting Research over the weekend before the announcement of the Level 4 shutdown, found that strong majorities of Kiwis were in favour of strong borders, banning foreigners, and region-specific shutdowns.

The findings come as the government spent Tuesday explaining how the lockdown will work, and securing a mostly Government-backed business loan scheme, and a six month mortgage holiday for homeowners' whose income have taken a hit thanks to Covid-19.

Yet Wednesday night's lockdown is what looms large in the minds of members of the public.

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According the Coronavirus Tracker, a massive 93 per cent of Kiwis said they would support a lockdown - with people asked not to leave their homes - in any region of New Zealand where the virus was "most prevalent". Almost all (95 per cent) agreed with the Government's decision to cancel large events, and 83 per cent supported the Government providing a multi-billion dollar stimulus package.

Shutting down schools was somewhat less popular, but was still supported by 58 per cent of respondents, with 22 per cent opposed and 20 per cent unsure.

This support may explain a significant uptick in support for the Government's overall approach to the virus, with 62 per cent satisfied, compared to 47 per cent satisfied when the last poll was carried out in early-March.

But that support had not led to optimism in the face of the crisis.

Nine in ten (91 per cent) Kiwis thought the virus would hit the economy "badly" or "very badly" - with 60 per cent saying "very badly". A majority (58 per cent) were worried about catching Covid-19 themselves and just 17 per cent thought New Zealand's medical system was adequately prepared to deal with a "large-scale outbreak".

Many more Kiwis were worried about the virus itself than earlier in March - 58 per cent compared to 41 per cent.

The country was split on whether or not such a large-scale outbreak could be prevented by New Zealand's border and quarantine arrangements, with 41 per cent saying they would and 41 per cent saying they wouldn't. (The poll was undertaken before New Zealand was moved into level 3.)

"People are a lot more worried than they were at the beginning of the month," pollster John Utting told Stuff

"People are definitely not confident that New Zealand will be able to prevent a large-scale outbreak."

"And Kiwis overwhelmingly say the New Zealand health system is not prepared to deal with the coronavirus."

The poll will likely provide some comfort to a Government venturing into uncharted territory with the lockdown on Wednesday, which will see all but the most essential services shut and strict controls on anyone leaving their house.

Police and possibly the army will be enforcing these measures, which are likely the most draconian ever implemented in peacetime New Zealand.

The UR/Stuff Coronavirus tracker was undertaken on Sunday and polled 3133 Kiwi adults on mobile and landlines with a robocall. The sample was weighted to match the census and has a margin of error of +/- 1.7 per cent.

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