Dr Ashley Bloomfield says the "stamp it out" phase for Covid-19 will be in place as long as is necessary.

Police have made significant changes to their guidelines for frontline officers after it was revealed they had little power to enforce the lockdown unless they suspected someone has coronavirus.

On Saturday night, police released updated guidelines around Alert Level 4 rules.

They provided clarity around what was acceptable bubble behaviour.

The rules, set out in a Health Notice issued by the Director General of Health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, include:

READ MORE:

* Coronavirus: Full coverage

* Epidemic Response Committee grill Mike Bush and Civil Defence

* Policing the pandemic: The 'unprecedented' powers deployed to keep Kiwis at home

* Coronavirus: Police Commissioner Mike Bush to bow out at Covid-19 select committee

* The rule of law matters even more during an emergency

• Everyone in New Zealand is to be isolated or quarantined at their current place of residence except as permitted for essential personal movement.

• Exercise is to be done in an outdoor place that can be readily accessed from home and two-metre physical distancing must be maintained.

• Recreation and exercise does not involve swimming, water-based activities (for example, surfing or boating), hunting, tramping, or other activities of a kind that expose participants to danger or may require search and rescue services.

• A child can leave the residence of one joint caregiver to visit or stay at the residence of another joint care-giver (and visit or stay at that residence) if there is a shared bubble arrangement.

• A person can leave their residence to visit or stay at another residence (and visit or stay at that residence) under a shared bubble arrangement if - one person lives alone in one, or both, of those residences; or everyone in one of those residences is a vulnerable person.

Bloomfield said the guidance provided additional clarity around bubbles, and reinforced the ability of the police to enforce them.

"No-one likes a rule breaker, especially when breaking the rules puts other New Zealanders' lives at risk. We've started well but now is not the time to be complacent. We need to be extra vigilant to move out of Alert Level 4 as soon as possible, and police have all the powers they need to make sure people not following the rules are dealt with."

New Police Commissioner Andrew Coster the Health Notice made it clear what types of outdoor exercise and recreation people should not do.

"We want people to stay safe, but if a small number of people persist in deliberately flouting the restrictions, police will have the discretion to warn or, if necessary, to arrest.

"The vast majority of New Zealanders have a high level of awareness of what they can and can't do under the Alert Level 4 restrictions, and by and large people are doing a tremendous job."

The public should not notice any significant change to policing, he said.

ROBERT KITCHIN/STUFF Police have released updated guidelines around Alert Level 4 rules and provided clarity around what was acceptable bubble behaviour.

"I have recently set a clear expectation of our staff on how we police in the current environment. We have today updated our operational guidelines to staff, to help them police with confidence and certainty.

The new guidelines are significantly different from the ones seen by Stuff. Both guidelines, titled Operational Policing Guidelines - Alert Level 4, scenarios for the Frontline, list various scenarios for police on the frontline. The earlier guidelines were issued to staff on March 28 by Police National Headquarters. Former Police Commissioner Mike Bush came under fire for not making the guidelines public.

While police had been doing spot checks on people in mandatory isolation, such as returning travellers, as well as checkpoints, the old guidelines suggested those powers did not extend to those are well and unlikely to have the virus.

However, under the new guidelines, influenced by the Medical Officer of Health updating the Health Act requires all persons within all districts to be isolated and quarantined.

Hagen Hopkins Outgoing Police Commissioner Mike Bush, confirmed during a meeting of the Epidemic Response Committee that he received advice from Crown Law about how police officers should use their new powers.

The earlier guidelines said there was no power to stop vehicles to check the occupants are complying with the Covid-19 health notice. However, under new guidelines police have the power to ensure people are not travelling in breach of Health Act orders.

Isolation also was not part of the Medical Officer of Health's (MOOH) earlier notice, with the Government relying on voluntary compliance to stop cars, enter properties or give directions.

If a serious incident arose involving failure to isolate, officers were advised to call the National Command and Coordination Centre, who would then contact the MOOH for a notice.

TEEN PARTY SCENARIO

In this scenario, police are called to a teenage party in a suburban house, with no parents home. This is not covered by the health notice as it is at a private address.

The occupier says they are a group of friends who – bar one – live together and are having a low-key gathering and hurting no-one.

To exclude the friend, "you would need to determine whether you believe that this situation is one where there is a substantial public health risk (for example if someone was displaying symptoms of Covid-19, were known to have Covid-19, or had recently returned from overseas)".

ANDY JACKSON/STUFF Police check out people surfing at Back Beach in New Plymouth. They left without telling surfers to leave the water.

That has now changed. Police say travelling to the address to party and then remaining there, is not one of the essential personal movements. Police can now encourage them to leave and if they failed to comply can be arrested or fined up to $4000.

COUPLE IN A CAR SCENARIO

Police pull over a couple in a car who do not live together. The driver says they were food shopping and he will drop his girlfriend off on his way home. Neither show coronavirus symptoms.

All police can do is speak to them about keeping themselves safe because there is "no significant public risk".

Under powers, earlier the document says: "Why have you stopped the vehicle? You have no powers relating to Covid in regards to this. There is no significant public risk as neither are displaying Covid symptoms."

However, the new document says they cannot be physically in each other's presence, with a two-metre separation required.

Dom Thomas/RNZ National Party leader Simon Bridges called for the Government to release both the guidelines and advice from Crown Law.

"Allow them to drive home and advise them that if they do not desist, this is an offence."

NEW POWERS

National Party leader Simon Bridges, who chairs the Epidemic Response Committee, earlier told Stuff the previous guidelines tallied with his understanding of the legal advice from Crown Law to the Government.

"We're hearing from a number of police how uneasy they are about being expected to do things that aren't permissible under their guidelines or law.

He called for "transparency and openness", and asked the Government to release both the guidelines and their legal advice.

Lawyer Nigel Hampton QC said it was "vital" for the public to understand what powers police had.

"These are extraordinary times and extraordinary powers are being used or are available to used."