New Zealand announced the country will enter another COVID-19 lockdown on Tuesday after a single infection was discovered.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the cities of Auckland, where the infected man lives, and Coromandel, where he had visited, will enter a full lockdown for seven days. The rest of the country will be under restrictions for three days while health experts attempt to trace the source of the infection.
“We have seen what happens elsewhere if we fail to get on top of it,” Ardern said Tuesday during a public address. “We only get one chance.”
The lockdown goes into effect just before midnight on Tuesday, requiring residents to remain at home and avoid contact with other residents. People are allowed to leave their houses only to buy groceries or exercise.
BOOSTER SHOT ELICITS STRONG IMMUNE RESPONSE TO DELTA VARIANT, PFIZER TELLS FDA
The country’s vaccine program has also been suspended for two days since the outbreak. New Zealand has done exceptionally well to mitigate large outbreaks of COVID-19 compared to most countries. However, only 32% of people have had at least one vaccine dosage, and only 18% are fully vaccinated, according to the Ministry of Health.
“Delta has been a game-changer. We’re responding to that,” said Ardern, referring to the highly transmissible COVID-19 variant. “The best thing we can do to get out of this as quickly as we can is to go hard.”
Health officials said the genome testing they are conducting on the 58-year-old infected man would not verify until Wednesday whether he has the delta variant, although experts are operating under the assumption that he does.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
New Zealand has only recorded 26 virus deaths since the outset of the pandemic last year.
