The number of new cases reported for each date appears in brackets next to the # of cases. '# of cases' includes both confirmed and probable cases, with 76,459 probable cases identified as of 31 July 2023.On 31 December, most areas under the Red setting with the exception of the Northland Region transitioned to the Orange setting. On 15 December, the Government lifted the internal border around Auckland, easing travel to and from the metropolitan region. Auckland and areas in the North Island with low vaccination started on the Red setting while the rest of the country commenced on the Orange setting. On 3 December, New Zealand transitioned into the COVID-19 Protection Framework ('Traffic light system), ending the previous 'alert level system'. The Far North District, which entered into a Level 3 lockdown the previous week, moved down to Alert Level 2 on 12 November. As a result, retailers, museums, and zoos reopened while outdoor gatherings were allowed with a 23-person limit. On 10 November, Auckland transitioned to step 2 of Alert Level 3 from 10 November. Step 2 allows retailers to operate with face masks and physical distance increased the number of people at outdoor gatherings to 25 and eliminated the two-household restriction. On 2 November, the Waikato region transitioned to step 2 of Alert Level 3. On 8 October, Alert Level 3 restrictions were reinstated in the Northland Region after a positive case from Auckland visited the region. On 7 October, Level 3 restrictions in the Waikato were extended to include a wider area including Te Kuiti, the Waipa District, Ōtorohanga, Te Awamutu, Karapiro and Cambridge.

On 4 October, Alert Level three restrictions were reinstated in several parts of Waikato including Raglan, Huntly, Ngāruawāhia and Hamilton following the detection of community cases. Event limit restrictions were also relaxed for areas under Level 2, with 100 people being allowed in indoor hospitality venues. On 22 September, Auckland moved down to Alert Level 3 while the rest of the country remained on Alert Level 2. However, mandatory mask wearing and limits on both indoor and outdoor gatherings of 50 and 100 people respectively were introduced. On 8 September, all of New Zealand except Auckland moved into Alert Level 2 at 11:59pm on 7 September. On 1 September 2021, Auckland and the Northland Region remained on Alert Level 4 while the rest of the country transitioned into Alert Level 3 from 1 September 2021. On 17 August 2021 at 11:59 pm, after a report of a new community case presumed to be infected with the Delta variant of the virus earlier that day, New Zealand moved to alert level 4, entering a nationwide lockdown for a minimum of three days. On 12 March, Auckland moved back to level 1 at midday. On 7 March at 6:00 am, Auckland moved back to level 2 while the rest of New Zealand moved to level 1. On 28 February at 6:00 am, Auckland moved back up to level 3 while the rest of New Zealand moved to level 2. On 22 February at 11:59 pm, Auckland moved down to level 1. On 17 February at 11:59 pm, Auckland moved down to level 2 and the rest of the country to level 1. On 14 February 2021, at 11:59 pm, Auckland moved up to alert level 3 and the rest of New Zealand to level 2 after new community cases were detected in Auckland during level 1. The following dates and times are in New Zealand Daylight Time (UTC+13) until 3 April and New Zealand Standard Time (UTC+12) from 4 April. This article documents the timeline of transmission of COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand throughout 2021.

New lockdown august 2021