New Zealand Announces Strict Nationwide Lockdown Over One COVID-19 Case

Sydney: New Zealand on Tuesday imposed the highest ‘level-4’ lockdown after a COVID-19 case showed up on the island nation after six months.

There will be a week of lockdown in Auckland where the case was detected. The rest of the country will be under lockdown for three days.

The authorities are working with the assumption that the new case is a Delta variant.

Around 20 per cent of the population have been fully vaccinated till now, and 33 per cent have received one dose so far. The country has been quite successful in eliminating the COVID-19 virus within its borders but the vaccination programme has been reportedly running slow.

The level 4 lockdown means schools, offices and all businesses are shut down with only essential services remaining operational.

“I want to assure New Zealand that we have planned for this eventuality. Going hard and early has worked for us before,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.

The patient, a 58-year-old man, has been infected since Thursday, and it is believed that there are at least 23 potential sites for transmission.

“We have seen what can happen elsewhere if we fail to get on top of it. We only get one chance,” Ardern told the media. She also called the Delta variant “a game-changer”.