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New Zealand’s prime minister announced that the country’s largest city, Auckland, will enter a seven-day lockdown after a COVID-19 case was detected.
As of Sunday, two million people will only be allowed to leave home for essential purchases and jobs, Jacinda ardern he said, and all public places will be closed.
Restrictions in the rest of the country will be tightened to level two, including limits on public gatherings, after the discovery of the case of unknown origin.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a seven-day lockdown in Auckland starting Sunday morning. Photo: AP
It comes two weeks after Auckland sank in a snap three day confinement when a family of three was diagnosed with the most transmissible British variant of coronavirus.
Health officials, who could not immediately confirm how the last person was infected, said the genome of the new infection was being sequenced.
The patient developed symptoms on Tuesday and is considered to have been potentially infectious since Sunday, authorities said. The person had visited various public places during that period.
“Based on this, we are in the unfortunate but necessary position to protect the people of Aucklanders again,” Ms. Ardern said in announcing the closure.
New Zealand has been successful in dealing with the pandemic as thousands of people attended a concert by the band Six60 two weeks ago. Photo: AP
Health authorities were trying to find out if the new case was related to the group from early February, now with 12 infections.
New Zealand, One of the most successful developed nations in controlling the spread of the virus, it has seen just over 2,000 cases of coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.
A Twenty20 cricket clash in Auckland between New Zealand and Australia, scheduled for Friday, will be played in Wellington without crowds, New Zealand Cricket said.
The new restrictions also complicated the America’s Cup Event yacht race scheduled to begin on March 6 in Auckland Harbor. America’s Cup Event said on Twitter that it was working “through the implications.”
