Jacinda Ardern has announced New Zealand will be implementing an alert system for COVID-19.

The alert system will have four levels, New Zealand has now moved to level 2.

"We will use this alert system every time we update our cases, so you’ll know if the status in your area has gone up, or down, or stayed the same. And what you’ll need to do," Ardern says.

The System:

Alert level 1:

"In this phase we prepare - the basics like border measures, contact tracing and cancelling mass gatherings are all activated. You'll see that this is where we have been when COVID first arrived in New Zealand.

Alert level 2:

"Where the disease is contained, but the risks are growing because we have more cases. This is when we move to reduce our contact with one another, we increase our border measures and we cancel events. This is also the level where we ask people to work differently if they can, and cancel unnecessary travel."

Alert level 3:

"Alert level three is where the disease is increasingly difficult to contain. This is where we restrict our contact by stepping things up again. We close public venues and ask non-essential businesses to close."

Alert level 4:

"This is where we have sustained transmission. This is where we eliminate contact with each other altogether. We keep essential services going, but we ask everyone to stay at home until COVID-19 is back under control."