UPDATE 1.09PM: The Government has confirmed strict criteria for early vaccinations for people who need to travel outside of New Zealand on compassionate grounds or for reasons of national significance.

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says two weeks ago, the Government set out the Covid-19 vaccine roll-out plan – beginning with those most at risk of getting and spreading Covid-19 and those most at risk of getting seriously sick from it.

"The Government has carefully considered circumstances where there is a genuine need for people to be vaccinated urgently in order to travel overseas," says Hipkins.

"A high threshold has been set, which will balance compassion with the need to avoid potential queue jumping ahead of at-risk groups, without a strong justification. These provisions will not extend to vaccinations for new arrivals or returnees."

Even before people will be considered, they will need to satisfy a series of criteria, including being a New Zealand citizen, resident or visa holder; needing to travel before August 31, 2021; and having already made arrangements for returning to New Zealand.

"People should also ensure they will be able to receive both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine prior to their departure."

The compassionate grounds that would be considered for travel overseas include:

• needing to provide critical care and protection for a dependant;
• accessing critical medical care that is not available in New Zealand; and
• visiting an immediate family member who is dying.

"This does not include reuniting with family, attending a funeral or memorial service, or attending a school or university."

National significance overseas travel will include representing New Zealand:

• in an official capacity;
• at significant international events; and
• in an official non-government capacity.

"The key yardstick here is people travelling in an official capacity and ensuring their participation is in our national interest. We also expect these requests will need to be made by the appropriate agency or association on behalf of the individual, not by individuals themselves.

"It does not include private or recreational travel.

"The final consideration is the level of risk travellers will be exposed to Covid-19 in the destination country.

"Underlying these decisions is a fundamental recognition that while where there are legitimate urgent reasons to travel overseas, it is also in all our interests to ensure New Zealanders are protected against Covid-19 to the best extent possible when travellers return home."

Further information about the new criteria and application process for an advanced vaccine request will be available in the coming week, before applications open March 31.

The new, baseline criteria:

To have an application considered for early access to vaccines, the following baseline criteria must be met:

• The applicant must be a New Zealand citizen or resident, or visa holder, or someone who has been unable to leave New Zealand since closure of international borders; and
• not be able to delay or conduct the proposed activity through any other means (e.g. online video communication); and
• be required to travel on or before 31 August 2021; and
• where appropriate, they have made arrangements for returning to New Zealand;
• be able to be fully vaccinated before departure in accordance with best practice (e.g. at least three weeks between doses for the Pfizer vaccine) where practicable; and
• be able to provide supporting evidence for all requirements.

Factors for consideration based on compassionate grounds include:

• needing to provide critical care and protection for a dependant,
• accessing critical medical care that is not available in New Zealand, and
• visiting an immediate family member who is dying.

Factors for consideration based on grounds of national significance may include:

• protecting the safety and security of New Zealand's sovereignty;
• Government approved humanitarian efforts as part of New Zealand's commitments to foreign aid, international disaster responses, or supporting the recovery of Pacific and Realm countries from the COVID-19 pandemic;
• participation in major international events where travel is necessary to represent New Zealand; and
• nationally significant trade negotiations.

EARLIER:

The Minister for Covid-19 Response, Chris Hipkins and Director-General of Health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, are expected to provide a live update on the latest Covid cases in New Zealand this afternoon.

The pair will be live from Wellington from 1pm.

A livestream will be available above. We will also provide an update throughout the afternoon for those who are not able to tune into the livestream above.

It was announced earlier this morning that genome sequencing revealed a cleaner at a managed isolation hotel who tested positive for Covid-19 has the UK variant B117, and their infection is a close match to that of a recent returnee.

The cleaner worked at the Grand Millennium managed isolation hotel in Auckland where the returnee stayed from 13 to 15 March. The guest had tested positive on 'day zero-one' testing.

Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield says that ruled out the infection having come from the community.

It's also before the worker had their their second Covid-19 vaccination on March 16, says Bloomfield.

Repeat testing and serology testing of a household member - who initially tested weak positive for the coronavirus - have returned negative results, he says.

Read more here.