New Zealand is back in a nationwide lockdown for the first time since May 2020.

So how is the country taking it?

RNZ reporters took to the streets to find out.

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff is calling for everybody to play their part and follow the rules to successfully contain the virus.

Council facilities, such as libraries, leisure centres, playgrounds and public toilets are now closed. Essential services, such as recycling, waste collection, and other critical infrastructures, will continue.

Goff spoke to Jane Patterson.

Covid-19 is back in the community and the whole of New Zealand is back in lockdown as a result.

Otago University Public Health Professor Nick Wilson told Morning Report a return to alert level 4 was definitely the right call.

"We really need to identify absolutely all of the contacts."

There are four new community cases of Covid-19 all linked to the case announced yesterday -- and it is the Delta strain.

Yesterday afternoon, the Prime Minister put the country into a Level 4 lockdown, following the positive Covid result of a man in Devonport, Auckland, who had also travelled to Coromandel township.

This morning the Prime Minister confirmed four of his close contacts have returned positive tests - including a nurse who works at Auckland Hospital.

Internal lockdown measures are now under way at the hospital.

Jane Patterson spoke to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

After a community case of Covid-19 was identified yesterday from 11:59pm on Tuesday night all of New Zealand moved to Covid-19 Alert Level 4.

The alert level will be reviewed after three days for all areas except Auckland & Coromandel Peninsula which is likely to remain at level 4 for an initial period of seven days.

Everyone is asked to:

Wear a mask and keep a 2 metre distance from others whenever you leave your home

If you are sick, call your doctor or Healthline for advice about getting tested

Keep on scanning QR code's whenever you leave your home

Practice good hygiene - wash hands often. Services including supermarkets, pharmacies, clinics & petrol stations will stay open at Alert Level 4.

More information on Alert Level 4 can be found on the Covid-19 website.

News from the business sector, including a market report.

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After a community case of Covid-19 was identified yesterday from 11:59pm on Tuesday night all of New Zealand moved to Covid-19 Alert Level 4. The alert level will be reviewed after three days for all areas except Auckland & Coromandel Peninsula which is likely to remain at level 4 for an initial period of seven days. Everyone is asked to: Wear a mask and keep a 2 metre distance from others whenever you leave your home If you are sick, call your doctor or Healthline for advice about getting tested Keep on scanning QR code's whenever you leave your home Practice good hygiene - wash hands often. Services including supermarkets, pharmacies, clinics & petrol stations will stay open at Alert Level 4. More information on Alert Level 4 can be found on the Covid-19 website.

For the first time since March last year, New Zealand is waking up to a strict national lockdown. The country went into Alert Level 4 at midnight, following the discovery of a community case on the North Shore. With no clear link to the border, health officials are now scrambling to work out how the Auckland man could have caught the virus. Our political reporter Anneke Smith has more.

News from the rural and farming sector.