New Zealand orders largest city Auckland into snap Covid lockdown

Wellington, Feb 14 (AFP/APP): New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern ordered the country’s biggest city Auckland into a snap lockdown for the first time in nearly six months on Sunday after three coronavirus cases emerged in the community.

The Pacific island nation has been widely praised for its handling of the pandemic, with just 25 deaths in a population of five million. But almost two million residents were told on Sunday to stay at home from midnight, when the level-three lockdown begins, with schools and businesses to close except for essential services.

“The main thing we are asking people in Auckland to do is stay at home to avoid any risk of spread,” Ardern said. She added that the restrictions were “just in case it could be one of the more transmissible strains of Covid that we need to act with a high degree of caution around.”

It came after three members of an Auckland family tested positive, with authorities concerned about the “new and active” infections as there was no obvious source of transmission. The city will also be ring-fenced from the rest of New Zealand, with travel in and out of the metropolis highly restricted for the next three days.

The remainder of the country will move to alert level two, Ardern said, with people required to wear masks on public transport and gatherings limited to a maximum of 100 people. “I know we all feel the same way when this happens — not again,” she said. “But remember, we have been here before, that means we know how to get out of this — together.”

Stay tuned to BaaghiTV for latest news and Updates!