Health authorities in New Zealand shook hands on Wednesday to track down the source of a new outbreak of the coronavirus as the nation’s largest city went back into lockdown.
Authorities have confirmed four cases of the virus in one household in Auckland from an unknown source and are awaiting the test results of four more people they suspect have infections – two work colleagues and two relatives of those in the home.
The cases this week were the first known local transmission of the virus in New Zealand in 102 days.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has imposed a new lockdown on Auckland. She will be seen here during a press conference in December 2019. (AP)
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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said more than 200 people with connections to those in the house were in contact Wednesday.
“Our plan for mass testing, rapid traces of contacts and, of course, our restrictions to stop the transmission chain, has been in full swing in Auckland today,” Ardern said.
Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said one of the people who tested positive works at an Americold food store for cold storage in Auckland, who was swabbed to check if it was a possible source of the infections.
“We know from studies abroad that the virus can actually survive for a while in cool environments,” he said.
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The cluster came as an unusual surprise to many and raised questions about whether the nation’s general election would go ahead as planned next month.
Bloomfield said two of the people who tested positive were traveling to the city of Rotorua while suffering from symptoms in recent days and visiting various tourist attractions.
“People in Rotorua and indeed the country need to be vigilant about their health and seek advice if they have symptoms,” he said.
Auckland was relegated to Alert Level 3 on Wednesday afternoon, a designation initially set to continue through midnight Friday. This means that non-essential workers will be required to stay at home, while bars, restaurants and most businesses will be closed.
The rest of the country was relocated to Alert Level 2, which means mass gatherings are limited to 100 attendees and people are required to distance themselves socially.
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Bloomfield said it would use genomic sequencing as part of its effort to find the source of the new outbreak.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she had worked quickly to set up the Auckland lock-in measures after first learning about the cases on Tuesday afternoon.
She said Aucklanders were also ‘strongly encouraged’ but not mandated to wear masks, and that authorities released 5 million masks from a central delivery. New Zealanders did not initially wear many masks, although authorities encouraged people to buy them or wear scarves or bandannas, just in case.
The nation’s parliament was to be dissolved on Wednesday ahead of a general election on September 19, as lawmakers hit the campaign track. But Ardern said they delayed the dissolution until at least Monday in case lawmakers had to meet shortly. She said she was also seeking advice on options for the election.
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Under New Zealand law, the government could delay the elections by up to two months. The main candidates have already canceled most of their planned upcoming campaign events.
The outbreak was found after a man in his 50s went to his doctor with symptoms on Monday and was swabbed twice, both times testing positive. Three more people in his household later tested positive.
The case has scratched health authorities’ heads because the man had not recently traveled abroad and had no direct apparent connection to infections at the border.
As of Tuesday, the only known cases of the virus in New Zealand were 22 travelers who were quarantined after returning from abroad.
New Zealand was praised worldwide for its virus response and had just celebrated reaching 100 days without any known communication transmission.
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The nation of South Pacific of 5 million initially got rid of the virus by setting up a strict barrier in late March when only about 100 people tested positive for the disease, and its spread stopped.
Life was back to normal for many people when they attended rugby games in packed stadiums and sat in bars and restaurants without fear of becoming infected. But some had warned that the land had become itself.
