The normally busy central motorway interchange is deserted mid-morning in Auckland, New Zealand on August 14, 2020. Auckland on August 14, 2020. / AFP / DAVID ROWLAND
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern extended the lockdown of New Zealand’s largest city Auckland for 12 days as authorities try to stamp out the nation’s first outbreak in more than three months.
Under the level 3 restrictions, people will be urged to stay home and consumer-facing businesses will be shuttered. Across the country, level 2 restrictions that include social distancing and gathering limits, will also be extended until Aug. 26.
The move is in line with New Zealand’s philosophy of "going hard and going early,” Ardern told reporters. To help people cope with the economic shock of the lockdown, a wage subsidy program will be extended.
After eradicating community transmission, New Zealand’s 102-day Covid-free run ended this week when an initial four new cases were detected in an Auckland household. Ardern responded to the fresh outbreak by putting Auckland, a city of 1.6 million people and a hub of commerce, into an initial three day lockdown and reimposed social distancing rules across the rest of the country.
New Zealand recorded 12 new confirmed local cases of the coronavirus on Friday including 2 in the North Island town of Tokoroa. That takes the cluster of infections to 30, including a probable case.
The nation now has 48 active cases, which includes 18 people who tested positive during the 14-day quarantine that’s mandatory for anyone returning to the country from overseas.
