The whole of Waikato will be at Alert Level 2 from 11.59pm Tuesday Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Monday.
Ardern confirmed that parts of the Waikato currently at Alert Level 3, Step 2, will be able to return to Level 2 from that time.
She emphasised that the move was "temporary" because "we’re keen to move very soon into the Covid-19 Protection Framework".
The Government is also seeking public health advice about potentially moving to that traffic light framework earlier than each DHB hitting a 90 per cent double-vaccinated rate, she added.
Jacinda Ardern announced the news from Wellington this afternoon.
As for why Cabinet had decided to move straight to Alert Level 2, instead of Alert Level 3, Step 3, Ardern said that decision was based on public health advice.
She said she was confident in the move to Level 2 because the cases that were being found in Waikato were "predominantly" linked.
Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said public health officials "felt it was more simple and consistent with the rest of the country to move (Waikato) directly to Alert Level 2".
Raglan, Te Kauwhata, Huntly, Ngāruawāhia, and Hamilton City have been in Level 3 since October 3.
The boundary was extended on October 7 to include the Waitomo District (including Te Kuiti), Waipā District and Ōtorohanga District.
Ardern said the restrictions had helped keep the spread of Covid-19 mostly within households.
It comes as seven new Covid-19 cases — in Ōtorohanga, Hamilton, Kawhia and Huntly — were detected in Waikato on Monday.
Five of the cases have been linked, with interviews underway with the other two to determine any links to existing cases.
In the Delta outbreak, there have been 239 cases in the Waikato region, of which 85 have recovered.
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