- New Zealand has extended the nationwide lockdown triggered by a single Covid-19 case.
- The epidemic has now caused 148 cases.
- An official stated that the Delta variant poses a “significant issue” for the country’s Covid-19 “elimination” plan.
- For more stories, please visit www.BusinessInsider.co.za.
new Zealand Has extended its nationwide blockade by A Covid-19 case, At least four days in advance, because it tries to contain Highly infectious Delta variant.
Country first Entered lockdown on August 17After finding a Covid-19 case in Auckland, health officials believed that the case was Delta.New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden Said Thursday Those who started the outbreak returned from Sydney, Australia (the Covid-19 hotspot) on August 7 and arrived in Auckland, the country’s largest city.
By the time the postponement was announced, the epidemic had reached 107 cases. On Tuesday, there were 41 new cases, bringing the total to 148. According to official data -According to the data, 137 of them are in Auckland.
Arden Said Monday The country will be under strict lockdown At least until midnight Friday, August 27. Ardern said Auckland will be in the nation’s highest level 4 lockdown until at least Tuesday, August 31.
According to Level 4 regulations, New Zealanders can only leave home for exercise, supermarket shopping, basic medical care (including pharmacy visits) and testing.
Arden Said at the Monday briefing This is the “safest option”, adding that the number of cases in New Zealand may “continue to deteriorate” before it improves. Ardern said the virus has “leaded” and spread across the country.
The lock may not contain Delta
Dr. Ashley Bloomfield, Director General of Health of New Zealand, Said in the Tuesday briefing The highly contagious Delta variant is “different” from New Zealand’s previous experience with the virus. “We have seen it spread rapidly,” he said.
New Zealand has responded to the epidemic through strict lockdowns. It entered Level 4 lockdown for the first time on March 26, 2020. At that time, it recorded fewer than 300 cases and no deaths. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the country has recorded 3,097 Covid-19 cases and 26 deaths. According to Johns Hopkins University.
Ardern insists that the country’s “elimination strategy”—to completely contain and eradicate Covid-19, rather than coexist with it in the community—is still the “right thing”.
But New Zealand’s Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins, Tell Q+A on SundayBefore extending the lock-up period, the Delta variant raised “some big questions” about New Zealand’s long-term plan to control the virus.
Shipkins said that someone discovered the delta virus and spread it in less than 24 hours. He said: “So far, we have never dealt with this situation in this pandemic. It has really changed everything.”
Shipkins said that New Zealand’s “existing protective measures,” such as the strict blockade, began to appear “inadequate and not sound enough.”
“We are paying close attention to what else we can do there,” he said, adding that the country needs to open up at some point, but it is too early to predict what this will look like. For now, Shipkins said the country needs to “smoothly” eliminate the virus.
Bloomfield Said on Tuesday Increasing vaccines is the key.
The vaccination rate in New Zealand is lower than the world average, with 19.4% of the population being vaccinated. The world average is 24.6% The Data World of Oxford University.
