There were many success stories of New Zealand containing the pandemic virus during the first wave. In the second wave also, many countries in the world are victims of coronavirus. There have been just 26 deaths there since the eruption of the pandemic with none at all for over a year. New Zealand neighbor Australia has continued the lockdown restrictions in Sydney and Melbourne. There was no news about New Zealand coronavirus appearing in the media. But an Island-nation New Zealand is in a snap of lockdown after just one case, plus four connected to it. The case was detected in Auckland, which will be in lockdown for a week, while the rest of the country will be in lockdown for three days.
Officials suspect one case related to Delta variant and are investigating origins of 9 more cases of the variant. Coromandel, a coastal town where the infected person had visited, will be in lockdown for seven days too. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s decision of a three day lockdown has been criticized by the opposition. They blamed Ardern for the delay of the vaccination drive in the country. Island nation has just around 20% of its population has been fully vaccinated and 30% of population having received one dose. Government moves seemed extreme at the time more number of cases were later identified.
Schools, offices and all non-essential businesses were ordered to shut for 3 days. Auckland will remain in lockdown for 7 days. There was reportedly a rush at supermarkets in Auckland, as locals anticipated a snap lockdown. The measures underscore New Zealand’s strategy of trying to eliminate the spread of the virus. The country has reported only 2,937 cases whereas neighbor Australia reported 40K cases. New Zealand observed that all Covid-19 cases detected at the country's border in recent weeks had been Delta.
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