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Strong response towards New Zealand’s first Covid-19 case in six months. It is suspected to be caused by delta variant, but not confirmed.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern put the nation on a three-day lockdown Tuesday after a single case of community-spread Covid-19 was confirmed in Auckland, the country’s largest city.
The new case — New Zealand’s first in six months — was diagnosed in a 58-year-old man who had visited the nearby Coromandel area, though it is not known how he contracted the virus that causes Covid-19.
At a news briefing, Ardern said it will not be known for certain if the case was caused by the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus until genetic testing is completed. She said Auckland and Coromandel will be locked down for seven days while the rest of the country is on a three-day lockdown.
New Zealand has seen success in controlling Covid-19 through contact tracing, allowing some semblance of normality to return. A Covid-19 QR code attached to a barrier for patrons to scan as they enter the stadium ahead of the Super Rugby Aotearoa rugby game between the Highlanders and Chiefs in Dunedin, New Zealand, Saturday, June 13, 2020
“Delta has been called a game-changer, and it is,” Ardern told reporters. “It means we need to again go hard and early to stop this spread. We have seen what can happen elsewhere if we fail to get on top of it. We only get one chance.” If it is confirmed, New Zealand would be among the last nations in the world in which the variant has appeared.
Under New Zealand’s Level 4 lockdown rules, schools, offices and all businesses will be shut down, and only essential services will be operational. The nation’s last stay-at-home orders were lifted in March.
The nation of 5 million people has been….
