New Zealand is re-fining after first local case of Covid-19 in six months

Following the detection of a first case of Covid-19 of local origin in six months, New Zealand will be re-defined. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Tuesday, August 17, that the country was returning to strict containment due to the discovery of a case in Auckland, the most populous city. This is the first local case since February 28.

All of New Zealand will be confined for three days from Wednesday, while Auckland and Coromandel, the coastal city where the infected person has also stayed, will be confined for seven days.

“Get out of this situation as quickly as possible”

Schools, places of worship, administrations and all businesses will therefore have to close. Only essential services will remain operational. “The best thing we can do to get out of this situation as quickly as possible is to go all out.”said M^me Ardern, at a press conference.

The archipelago has been praised abroad for its effective management of the Covid-19 epidemic, which, so far, has only killed twenty-six for a population of five million. However, the vaccination campaign is struggling to unfold, with currently around 20% of the population fully vaccinated.

Auckland’s two million residents were confined for short periods; the last time was in March. Last week, authorities said that the discovery of contamination cases linked to the Delta variant would lead to “A short and sudden confinement”.