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New Zealand has gone into the country’s strictest level of lockdown after its first locally transmitted COVID-19 case since February was confirmed.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardernannounced a three-day nationwide lockdownduring a press conference on Tuesday, with the lockdown going into effect at 11:59 p.m. at night, according to CNN. The level four lockdown requires everyone to stay home and non-essential businesses to remain closed. Additionally, masks are required at all times when people must leave home.
The lockdown comes after an unvaccinated 58-year-old man in Auckland, the country’s largest city, tested positive for COVID-19. Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield noted that the man had recently traveled to other parts of the country, and he was linked to the border.
In addition to the three-day lockdown, Auckland and Coromandel (a coastal town where the infected spent time) will be locked down for seven days. Meanwhile, the Auckland Regional Public Health unitis interviewing the infected to determine otherswith whom he might have come in contact, according to Reuters.
Although testing is still underway, authorities are assuming that he was infected with the Delta variant, Ardern explained. "
The best thing we can doto get out of this as quickly as we canis to go hard," she said Tuesday.
“We have made the decision on the basis that it is better to start high and go down levels rather than to go low, not contain the virus and see it move quickly,” Arden added.
The lockdown comesas part of Ardern’s “go hard, go early” strategy, which has helped curb COVID cases and deaths in the country. Therehave been less than 3,000 confirmed cases of coronavirusand 26 related deaths in New Zealand, which has a population of about 5 million, CNN reported.
However, the countryhas been slower than other developed nationsto inoculate its population, with 32% of people having gotten at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 18% having been fully vaccinated, according to NPR. Although New Zealand’s vaccination program has accelerated recently, it’s been suspended for two days amid the outbreak.
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While international borders have mostly remained closed, New Zealanders have been living without restrictions in recent months. Ardern announced plans earlier this monthto re-open the countryin early 2022, according to CNN.
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source: people.com
