New Zealand will remain in level 4 lockdown until midnight Tuesday, with regions south of Auckland downgrading a level after then. Auckland and Northland will likely remain in level 4 for a longer period.

The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, updated the nation on the lockdown settings on Friday afternoon.

The country has reported 70 new cases of coronavirus in the community, bringing the total number in the outbreak to 347. Of the cases, 333 are in Auckland, and 14 are in Wellington. One of the Auckland cases is based one hour north of the city, in Warkworth.

Ardern said cabinet will decide on Auckland and Northland’s lockdown setting on Monday, but it was likely Auckland would stay in level 4 for another two weeks.

“This is so we can get Delta under control and reopen fully and safely. We simply can’t do that if we still have a lot of Delta circulating in the community. To move safely down, we will need to be confident we have stamped it out and have cases contained and isolated,” she said.

Cabinet had decided to keep the country in level 4 - the highest setting - until next week for three main reasons.

“It will give us the confidence of an almost full 14-day cycle since our first case was discovered, especially given we had contacts across all parts of the country, and over 300 in the South Island,” Ardern said.

“The second reason is that we do have cases in Wellington, and while currently contained did have contacts that are due further testing over the coming days.

“Thirdly, we did see a positive waste-water test in the South Island, namely Christchurch, yesterday. It’s likely that this is a result of positive cases in a managed isolation facility, but further tests and a few extra days will allow us to answer that question.”

Level 3 lockdown prevents regional travel, requires people to stay in their bubble, public venues remain closed, and gatherings are limited to 10 people but only for weddings and funerals. Restaurants and retail can open but only for click-and-collect or delivery.