Though Auckland is remaining in Level 3, the region’s early childhood centres are set to reopen to everyone from Wednesday, and schools can return after the holidays.
Jacinda Ardern on Monday announced Auckland would not be moving down a level, however she said there would be a number of "key changes" to Level 3, including childcare and education.
Early childhood education will return for all from 11:59pm Tuesday, with added precautions, including 10-person bubbles at centres.
"Our public health team believe that with the right precautions in place, including limiting the size of groups to 10 children within a bubble at an ECE, strict infection prevention and control, the risk posed by the return of ECE is low," said the Prime Minister.
The exact number will depend on the number of bubbles of 10 children they can manage on their site. Parents, caregivers and teachers will also need to wear face coverings during pickups and drop offs.
"To ensure this is done as safely as possible, we’re encouraging early learning teachers to get tested alongside other Aucklanders who have returned to work. And we’ll look at options for more regular but less invasive surveillance testing going forward," she said.
All schools in Auckland are expected to return after the holidays in two weeks time.
“Public health advice also sets out that schools at this stage will be able to return after school holidays on the 18th of October with the final decision to be made on that closer to the time,” said Ardern.
"We’ll continue to review this preliminary advice.
"In the meantime if your child is aged 12 years and older and is not yet vaccinated we strongly urge you to use the coming two weeks to get them vaccinated before school reopens."
It comes as a number of other changes to the alert level were announced. Aucklanders are now able to connect with loved ones outdoors, with no more than two households at a time, up to a maximum of 10 people.
People can also move around the region for recreation such as heading to the beach, or for hunting.
The rest of the country will also remain at Alert Level 2, but the 100 limit cap on hospitality venues has been removed.
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