A State of National Emergency was declared due to COVID-19 in March 2020 and it was extended seven times - but it was never declared this year despite the arrival of the deadly Delta variant.
The reason for this, according to Civil Defence Minister Kiri Allan, is that "special purpose legislation" was put in place, negating the need to put the country into a State of National Emergency.
"The COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020, which came into force on 13 May 2020, is now the primary legislation for addressing the COVID‑19 response and recovery, including the management of any resurgence," Allan told Newshub.
"The Act for example allows the Minister of Health (or the Director-General of Health in specified circumstances) to make orders to give effect to the public health response to COVID-19 in New Zealand."
Before the specific COVID-19 legislation was put in place, a State of National Emergency declaration, along with the Health Act 2010 and the Epidemic Preparedness Act 2006, enabled a range of powers to respond to the pandemic.
But the Government wanted something more succinct.
"Given the provisions of the COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020 provide a comprehensive set of provisions and powers to support the Government's response to COVID-19, a declaration of a State of National Emergency was not needed for the recent resurgence," Allan said.
She said the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and civil defence emergency management groups continue to work in support of the COVID-19 response, despite there being no State of National Emergency.
"When the Government announced the nationwide alert level 4 restrictions in August, NEMA issued a nationwide Emergency Mobile Alert to ensure the messages were communicated widely, and on Sunday issued an alert to parts of the Waikato about the alert level 3 restrictions."
The COVID-19 Public Health Response Act currently empowers COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins to make orders to 'prevent the risk' of the outbreak or spread of COVID-19.
These orders include the alert level requirements and the rules that come with them, such as travel constraints, displaying QR codes and wearing face coverings.
Other orders include the requirements for people to isolate or be quarantined if they have COVID-19 or have been in contact, the requirement for people to be tested if it's believed they might have the virus, and mandatory vaccinations for border workers.
The legislation also provides 'enforcement officers' with various powers to prohibit or restrict public access to any road or public space, meaning they can help police with roadblocks or checkpoints that can be set up to monitor compliance - like we've seen with the Auckland boundary.
Enforcement officers may consist of Armed Forces, Maori wardens, nominated iwi representatives, Pasifika wardens or 'community controllers'. Police can only operate roadblocks and checkpoints at higher alert levels where movement is restricted.
Police also have the power under the law to "enter premises, including private dwelling houses and marae, without a warrant if they have reasonable grounds to believe that people have gathered there in contravention of an order".
If that sounds a bit ominous, rest assured that the legislation has a sunset clause, meaning it must be renewed by Parliament every 90 days and lapses within two years.
The latest police compliance report for Auckland showed 11 people have been charged with a total of 11 offences so far this outbreak, eight for failing to comply with an order, two for failing to comply with a direction or prohibition, and one was a Health Act breach.
In the same time period, 17 people were formally warned.
