New Zealand is again imposing restrictions on the city of Auckland after three members of the same family tested positive for COVID-19, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Sunday.
Driving the news: New Zealand’s most populous city will be closed for three days from 11:59 PM Sunday. The rest of NZ won’t be locked down, but social distance and other precautions will be reintroduced.
“Three days should give us enough time to gather more information, conduct large-scale testing, and determine if there has been a wider community transfer.”
– Ardern’s comments at the press conference
- Scientists have yet to determine the origin of community affairs. But the mother works at the city’s airport, where newly returned New Zealand travelers pass on their way to the managed hotel quarantine.
For the record: Auckland is introducing level 3 restrictions under NZ’s four-level alert system, urging people to stay in the “bubbles” of their household. Gatherings of up to 10 people are allowed in exceptional circumstances, such as funerals.
- Public locations must close and only essential services such as pharmacies and supermarkets can be opened for personal contact, with distance measures.
The big picture: This will be Auckland’s third lockdown. Level 3 restrictions were imposed in August, before being gradually lowered to Level 2. All domestic restrictions were lifted in October. Since the end of March 2020, there has been a national lockdown for six weeks, below level 4.
- The New Zealand government chose not to impose restrictions, despite the fact that there were cases in the community last month and November last year.
- Ardern said the government acted on the latest cases as a precaution while genomic sequencing is underway, as some of the more virulent strains of coronavirus have been detected in returning NZ travelers quarantined from hotels.
In numbers: There are currently 47 active COVID-19 cases, with 44 in managed hotel isolation.
- A total of 1,974 cases have been confirmed since the pandemic hit New Zealand last March.
Of interest: New Zealand will begin vaccinations with the coronavirus next week, with border workers being the first to receive doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine next Saturday.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.