New Zealand will go into a snap three-day lockdown after a new local case of coronavirus was detected in Auckland, which authorities assume is the Delta variant.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed the country would move to Alert Level Four from 11.59 pm tonight (local time).
Ms Ardern said it was important for the country to “go hard and go early” to defeat the Delta variant.
The snap lockdown will begin at midnight tonight as authorities rush to identify the source of a single infection in largest city Auckland, Ardern said at a news conference Tuesday in Wellington. While genome sequencing has yet to be completed, the case is assumed to be the highly infectious delta variant, she said.
Level Four means reducing contact between people to the bare, essential minimum.
“As we’ve seen overseas, particularly in Sydney, unnecessary trips outdoors can spread the virus,” she said.
The lockdown will last three days nationally at this point, though Ms Ardern said Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula would likely be locked down for a week.
