Essential services will continue to be provided across Christchurch and Banks Peninsula in Alert Level 4 but all Christchurch City Council-owned public facilities will be closed.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced that the entire country will move to COVID-19 Alert Level 4 from 11.59pm tonight for at least three days.  Auckland and the Coromandel area will be in lockdown for at least seven days.

This alert level change means there will be no public access to libraries, recreation and sport centres, pools, including the New Brighton hot pools, community centres, service centres, the Civic Offices, the Christchurch Art Gallery, the Akaroa Museum, and the visitors centre in the Botanic Gardens from that time.

All parks, including the Botanic Gardens, will remain open, but playgrounds and outdoor exercise equipment will be closed.

People using the parks will need to stay two-metres away from those who are not part of their bubble.

Christchurch City Council will continue to provide essential services such as water, wastewater, traffic control and kerbside rubbish collection throughout the Alert Level 4 restrictions.