"In two days, we had over 2000 calls to 111 of people who just wanted to report that people weren't following the rules. What we want to make sure is that we don't use 111 for that because we want to be able to use that for critical call-outs.

"Remember, people are allowed to go for a walk around the block, but if you hear, for instance, a party on your street that you're worried about, something that shouldn't be happening where people are getting together, you can report that."

Police have warned the public to be patient with the service as it's already experiencing high traffic.

"People reporting suspected breaches of alert level 4 restrictions via online reporting on the police website are asked to be patient," police said. "If you are having difficulty, please try again later."

The entire country has been told to self-isolate and stay at home - except for some essential services - for a period of four weeks, after the Prime Minister lifted the nation's response to COVID-19 to alert level 4 last Monday.

Her Facebook video message followed on from a press conference Ardern held with the director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield on Sunday where New Zealand's first COVID-19-related death was confirmed.

Anne Guenole was in her 70s and lived on the West Coast. She had been initially diagnosed with influenza which was complicated by an underlying health condition, and last Wednesday she tested positive for COVID-19.

"I know that the entire nation will be thinking of that family right now wanting to respect their privacy," Ardern said in her Facebook video.