Speaking to the media on Monday, Ardern said Kiwis will be able to gather in groups of 100 people from midday on Friday 29 May.
“We can now be highly confident, more than three weeks after the shift to level 3, that there are no new cases attributable to the more relaxed restrictions which we had as we stepped down into level 3 and started moving beyond that,” said Ardern.
“On the basis of this good news, Cabinet has decided we can now increase the size of all gatherings to 100 from 12 noon this Friday.”
It means religious services, weddings, funerals and other events will be able to be held as long as no more than 100 people are present.
However, venues will still need to allow for social distancing, which means dance floors will not be permitted at bars.
There is no longer a need for funerals to pre-register with the Ministry of Health.
Ardern noted the easing of the 10-person limit also allows for community sport to operate more easily.
The prime minister said Cabinet will check in on the Level 2 settings on 8 June, and on 22 June will consider when New Zealand could move to Level 1.
