New Zealand has delayed its election following a COVID-19 outbreak in its largest city, the prime minister announced on Monday local time.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said elections would be postponed four weeks, from September 19 to October 19.
She said during a briefing the decision was made after consultation with leaders of each political party.
Arden said the government landed on a date that provided ‘sufficient time for parties to plan on a variety of circumstances in which we could campaign, for the Electoral Commission to prepare and for voters to assure them of a safe , accessible and critical election. ”
The decision comes after New Zealand extended a lockdown on Friday in Auckland following its first COVID-19 outbreak in more than three months. The country had gone 102 days without any reported cases of coronavirus.
New Zealand has reported a total of 1,622 cases of coronavirus and 22 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
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