'Please don't be a stoic Kiwi' - PM wants those who are sick to get tested for Covid-19

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has again urged any Kiwis who get sick to immediately get tested for Covid-19 if they start displaying symptoms, in a bid to eliminate the virus from our shores.

Ms Ardern made the comments as she announced New Zealand will begin moving to Alert Level 2 on Thursday.

She says rapid contact tracing is imperative to keeping on top of the virus.

"The clock starts as soon as someone feels sick," she said.

"If you have Covid-19 we need every minute to find the people you have been in contact with and isolate them before they are in contact with someone else."

"In short, if you get a sniffle or a sore throat or a cough, get advice and get a test quickly. Please don’t be a stoic Kiwi."

She also gave figures on our testing capabilities and R0 value (rate of infection) which she says is currently around 0.4 people infected per case identified.

"We can now contact trace 185 cases a day, and have capacity to contact 10,000 people a day through our new national call centre.

"Identifying new cases of the virus quickly through testing and rapid contact tracing can be 90 per cent as effective as a vaccine in stopping the spread of the virus, but I cannot emphasise enough that speed is of the essence."

Level 2 timeline:

- Thursday May 14: Level 2 partially begins, retail opens

- Monday May 17: Schools, tertiary institutions and ECEs can open

- Thursday May 21: Bars can open

Ms Ardern said Cabinet agreed New Zealand was ready to move into Level 2 in order "to open up the economy but to do it as safely".

On Thursday May 14, retail, malls, cafes and restaurants, cinemas and other public places can open.

"You can begin to move around New Zealand," Ms Ardern said.

Schools will be able to open on Monday, May 17. On Thursday May 21, bars will be able to open.

Level 2 will be reviewed in two weeks.