- New Zealand recorded 28 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, the lowest in 12 days.
- Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson said it was “encouraging” but “the work has not yet been completed”.
- The country was blocked on August 17 following a case. The total number of outbreaks is now 764.
- For more stories, please visit www.BusinessInsider.co.za.
New Zealand The Deputy Prime Minister warned that “the work has not been completed” because the country has reported the lowest number of Covid cases in 12 days-two weeks after the re-imposition of strict lockdown measures.
official data It showed that of the 28 cases recorded on Friday, 27 were in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, which was also the epicenter of the latest epidemic, and the other was in Wellington, the capital..
Officials said the total number of cases in the current outbreak is 764.
Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson, Said in Friday’s briefing, The data is “encouraging”, but “the work is not done yet.”
He said: “We must continue to be vigilant to deal with this epidemic.”
Dr. Caroline McKinley, director of public health at the Ministry of Health, warned that “these outbreaks may continue for a long time.”
Country has Strictly blocked More than two weeks to fight The highly contagious Delta variant, It has mutations that help it avoid immune responses.
Michael Plank, Covid-19 Modeler and Professor of Statistics, University of Canterbury, New Zealand, Tell the guardian These numbers “tend to rebound slightly from one day to another, but we will observe how it follows in a week or so, and now these numbers are showing a downward trend.”
He also told the Guardian that the country “definitely has reached its first peak, and hopefully this is the last peak.”
However, he warned that if New Zealanders fail to comply with the lockdown measures, the number of cases may rise again.
“We need to constantly ensure that the transmission rate drops so that we can get back to zero,” he said.
blockade
New Zealand has adopted an “elimination” strategy to deal with the spread of Delta variants, which means “continue to eliminate any Covid that appears.” New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.
New Zealand was locked down for the first time after detecting a Covid-19 case on August 17, which is presumably caused by Delta Air Lines.
Now, Auckland is expected to be in the strictest level 4 lockdown in the country, which will last until at least September 13.
According to Level 4 regulations, New Zealanders can only go out to exercise, go to the supermarket to shop, visit pharmacies and other basic medical services, and receive Covid-19 testing.
On Monday, most other parts of the country were downgraded to level 3. “It means being cautious and staying in your bubble, which means distance and contactless trading,” Ardern said at the time.
Before the most recent outbreak, the country was relatively virus-free. Since August 18, 2020, there have never been more than 10 new cases per day. According to our data world at Oxford University.
Since the start of the pandemic, New Zealand, with a population of 4.9 million, has reported 3,372 Covid-19 cases and 26 deaths. According to official data.
The lockdown also buys time for more New Zealanders vaccination. So far, 25.7% of the population has been vaccinated, According to Johns Hopkins University. In contrast, 52.7% of Americans are fully vaccinated. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
