Hipkins ChrisMINISTERIAL STATEMENTSCOVID-19—Alert Level ChangesHon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister for COVID-19 Response): Thank you Mr Speaker. Since the House last met Auckland has once again been through the arduous ordeal of a lockdown and New Zealanders have been reminded of the need for continued vigilance in responding to COVID-19.On Saturday 27 February a new case emerged which could not be immediately linked to the previous cases in the Auckland February cluster. We found ourselves in a position that was fairly clear-cut: there was no immediate link for the new case and even if there had been a large number of exposure events associated with the latest case posed a significant risk of spread. This led Ministers to take the cautious approach which has served New Zealand so well through the pandemic and move Auckland to alert level 3 and the rest of New Zealand to alert level 2. Over the past week our systems have once again been put to the test. I'm pleased to say that they have demonstrated their overall strength. By Friday afternoon six days after identifying the new case over 60000 COVID-19 tests had been carried out—a significant proportion of those in Auckland—and 77 percent of the population of the Counties Manukau DHB have been tested. Our contact tracing team identified and managed roughly 6000 contacts linked to the 15 cases. We were able to genomically link cases to give us confidence that we were dealing with a contained cluster and we carried out regular wastewater testing at key sites the results of which have all been negative with the exception of the site near Jet Park where we're currently quarantining people who have COVID-19 and we would expect to see positive results from that.That's a massive credit to our testing teams and our contact tracing teams and should provide the public with confidence that our systems are well placed to assist in the future if further cases were to arise. On the basis of this hard mahi and the fact that we found no new cases beyond household members by Friday Cabinet was confident to move Auckland to alert level 2 and the rest of New Zealand to alert level 1 from Sunday morning. We also agreed to meet again later this week with a view to moving Auckland back to alert level 1 on Saturday if evidence suggests that it is safe to do so. This plan is consistent with our elimination strategy.I am pleased to report the Government is also making good progress with the roll-out of our vaccine. Border workers and their household contacts are receiving their first doses of the Pfizer vaccine: a vaccine that is now a much greater reality for many more New Zealanders with the announcement we've secured an additional 8.5 million doses within our portfolio. While a vaccine does signal a promising light at the end of this very long tunnel it remains vital that everyone continues to stringently follow the public health messages which is continuing to keep your distance from people when out and about in public. And on public transport if you can't maintain that distance of 2 metres we encourage you to carry a facemask or face covering with you. If you are sick stay at home—don't go to work or school and don't socialise. This protects you and it protects others. If you have symptoms of a cold or flu nature if you've got aches or pains call your doctor or Healthline and arrange to get a test. And please to everybody keep track of your movements at all times.Moving down alert levels should not result in an increase in complacency. Indeed with increased freedom comes increased responsibility—I know that our team of 5 million is up to that. We have the fourth lowest number of stay-at-home days of all OECD countries and the lowest average rating of OECD countries on the Oxford stringency index meaning on average over the last year we've had the fewest restrictions and the most freedoms of any country in the OECD. We all need to remain vigilant and to keep up that good work so that we can all continue to enjoy that.