Northland will be moving back to a strict alert level 3 lockdown from 11:59pm on Friday night after a positive case travelled extensively around the region.

COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed the woman, who is now in an Auckland MIQ facility, travelled to the region on October 2 from Auckland reportedly under false pretenses and was there until the evening of October 6.

The woman has not been cooperating with health authorities and it has been very difficult to get information about the case, Hipkins says.

Information the woman supplied when she got tested for COVID-19 wasn't enough to contact her, so police had to track her down.

A person that the woman travelled to Northland with has potentially been identified. They are being tracked down.

"We believe this new information warrants an alert level change decision to keep Northland people safe," Hipkins said during an impromptu press conference on Friday night.

"We recognise that it is unusual to put a region into alert level 3 when there are no further cases. However, it's vitally important that we get ahead of any potential spread, and set up widespread testing and continue contact tracing efforts.

"Restrictions will remain in place until 11.59pm Tuesday and will be reviewed at Cabinet on Monday."

The Ministry of Health has announced the first locations of interest for Northland. They are the BP Connect Wylies petrol station on Maunu Road, Woodhill, and the Z Kensington service station in Whangarei. Full information on the locations can be found here.

Hipkins says every Northlander needs to stay home, get tested as soon as possible if they have symptoms, and continue to check the Ministry of Health website for updated locations of interest.

What you need to know

• Northland will move to a strict alert level 3 lockdown from 11:59pm on Friday night after a positive case travelled extensively around the region.
• The woman has not been cooperating with health authorities. Police are attempting to track down another woman she travelled to the region with. Authorities are also working to determine locations the case visited.
• Auckland moved into phase one of the Government's 'roadmap to recovery' on Wednesday. The region remains at alert level 3.
• Forty-four new cases of COVID-19 have been reported on Friday - 41 in Auckland and three in Waikato. Of the new infections, 12 "mystery cases" have to be epidemiologically linked to the outbreak. Twenty are household contacts and 12 are known contacts.
• Two possible exposure events occurred at Middlemore Hospital this week, involving the same patient.
• The alert level 3 boundary in Waikato has been extended to include the Waitomo, Waipā and Ōtorohanga Districts after cases were detected outside of the former boundary in Kāwhia and Karāpiro.
• Data shows Murupara in the Bay of Plenty is the town or suburb with the lowest vaccination rate nationwide.
• The Govt will be piloting rapid antigen testing in workplaces after a coalition of businesses called for urgent approval for 370,000 rapid tests to be imported into NZ.
• It's understood two people have tested positive in Kāinga Ora properties in Beach Haven, according to a letter from Auckland Regional Public Health Service.
• Click here for all the locations of interest.