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The children went back to school and offices reopened in Auckland on Monday after authorities lifted the lockdown on New Zealand’s largest city that was imposed to contain a surge in coronavirus cases in early August.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she was confident the outbreak was under control, but made masks mandatory on public transportation across the country of five million people.
“We have a plan that we know will work,” said Ardern, who was wearing a mask Monday.
“We just need everyone’s compliance and help. If everyone adheres to those guidelines and rules, along with all the public health measures that we have, we can make this work.”
The closure began on August 12 after four cases were detected in the city of 1.5 million, and ended 102 days without community transmission. The origin of the outbreak has not yet been found.
Auckland students returned to school after many weeks of interruptions.
Back to school
“For me, it’s very good for them to go back to school. Online work, online school is fine, but it’s still not good enough for them. So it’s good to get out of the house,” said one parent. .
Public gatherings remain limited to 10 people in Auckland and the rest of the country remains at Alert Level 2, which means that physical distancing rules must be followed.
New Zealand announced nine new coronavirus cases on Monday, five of which were in the community and were traced back to the well-known Auckland group.
Ardern, who has delayed the country’s general elections until October 17, urged everyone to “do their part” in the fight against the virus.
“It is natural that we feel tired, the whole world is,” he said. “But relative to other countries, we are doing very well. We can get back to the forefront of the virus if we follow the guidelines.”
New Zealand has recorded more than 1,700 total confirmed COVID-19 cases so far and 22 deaths.
