Covid 19 coronavirus: Lotto NZ on how to buy your ticket for tonight's big draw

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Tonight's Lotto draw will go ahead as planned, Lotto NZ has revealed, but Kiwis are being told to buy tickets online if they can.

Lotto's head of communications Marie Winfield told the Herald: "The health and safety of retailers and customers is Lotto NZ's priority. Stores with Lotto counters will need to follow the Government's alert level guidelines, and for those that remain open, health and safety protocols including social distancing will need to be followed."

In Auckland under level three, supermarkets, dairies and petrol stations can have customers.

She said that Lotto recommends people buy their tickets on the MyLotto website or app, but warned Kiwis to get in early.

"We're expecting an unprecedented number of people to buy their tickets online today so encourage customers to buy their tickets as early as possible to avoid the last minute rush," she said.

"Anyone purchasing their tickets in open Lotto stores is encouraged to follow the health and safety guidelines set out by the store.

"At this stage, the live Lotto draw will continue on TV One at approximately 8.20pm."

Lotto's Powerball sits at an eye-watering $43 million - the second largest Wednesday prize ever.

The windfall sum of $43m if pocketed by a single winner could buy a private island in the Waitemata Harbour with $3m to spare.

If cars are your thing, the keys to a Ferrari, McLaren, Lamborghini and Rolls-Royce Phantom could all be within the fleet and you'd still comfortably be a multi-millionaire.

You could captain your own Azimut yacht in the ballpark of $757,000 and still have enough left over to buy tens of thousands of moorings for the vessel.

The huge sum could be spent solely on nearly 18 million litres of Hokey Pokey ice cream valued at $4.80 for two litres.

This would fill an Olympic size swimming pool more than seven times.

Or you could indulge in a classic celebratory drop and buy 614,285 bottles of Veuve Clicquot Champagne Brut at $70 a pop.

The biggest Powerball prize of $44.1m was scooped up by a couple from the Hibiscus Coast in 2016.

Meanwhile, the $50m must-be-won draw from earlier this year was split between two ticket holders because they shared the same winning numbers.

Since its inception to Lotto NZ in 2001, there have been 191 Kiwis who have won big with Powerball.

Lotto NZ first launched in 1987 and celebrated its 33rd birthday at the start of this month. A total of 943 people have become millionaires through the game.

Between August 1, 1987, and June 30, 2019, more than $4.6 billion was donated to charities and community groups through Lotto NZ.