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WELLINGTON: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Friday (September 4) that current restrictions to combat the spread of the coronavirus would be in place until at least mid-September.
Auckland, the country’s largest city and the center of a new outbreak, will remain at alert level 2.5 which limits meetings to no more than 10 people.
“The best economic response is still a strong health response. If we get it right, we will eventually get rid of restrictions faster and lower the risk of rebound,” Ardern told a news conference.
READ: COVID-19 pandemic review panel to ask ‘tough questions’, WHO files open, say co-chairs
Other parts of the country will be under Alert Level 2, which requires people to observe social distancing rules and restricts the size of gatherings to no more than 100 people. The settings will be reviewed on September 14.
New Zealand reported five new COVID-19 cases on Friday – three community-transmitted cases and two imported cases in managed isolation facilities.
There was also one death, the country’s first COVID-19 death in more than three months. Health officials said the man in his fifties was part of a cluster of second-wave infections that emerged in Auckland last month.
The country has reported 1,413 cases of coronavirus, of which 112 are active and 23 deaths.
READ: New Zealanders wear face masks when Auckland COVID-19 lockdown lifted
The Pacific nation of 5 million people appeared to have succeeded in stopping community transmission of COVID-19, but Auckland’s new outbreak prompted the government to re-close the city last month.
The blockade was lifted on Sunday, allowing schools and offices to reopen, although masks are mandatory on public transportation across the country.
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