Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin Councils have today announced the closure of most community facilities in a bid to stop the spread of coronavirus.
It follows a move from Auckland Council, which yesterday closed libraries, pools and recreation centres for two weeks.
The closures come swiftly after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced an alert system for monitoring the severity of Covid-19 in New Zealand, along with stricter measures to stop the spread of the virus.
Wellington Mayor Andy Foster said the decision had been made to close facilites "until further notice".
"These include swimming pools, libraries, recreation centres, community centres, the City Gallery and our museums and venues.
"The Zoo and Zealandia will remain open for the moment – but with reduced public programmes.
It comes as an alert system for Covid-19 response has been put in place for all of New Zealand.
"We have been in touch with our counterparts at our neighbouring councils and they are also closing their facilities," Mayor Foster said.
Christchurch City Council closed its facilites at 4.00pm today.
Access to libraries, sport and recreation centres, pools, community centres, service centres, the Christchurch Art Gallery and the visitors’ centre in the Botanic Gardens are closed until further notice.
Mayor of Dunedin Aaron Hawkins said the city's council closed public libraries and swimming pools today.
“It’s important we take sensible precautions to keep our community safe. This means being particularly aware of public places where a lot of people are together," Mr Hawkins said.
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