Countries around the globe still fight with the notorious coronavirus as they try to lower its consequences as much as they can.
New Zealand, which was the country that handled the coronavirus most successfully without reporting a case for 102 days, now has announced that four new cases were confirmed in the country’s largest city, Auckland.
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern announced a lockdown of the whole city.
The nation will move to level 3 of its virus restriction, meaning that the residents of Auckland will stay home from work and school.
They will not be allowed to gather in groups of 10 people or more and this will last from Wednesday to Friday, a period when the officials will analyze the situation and plan the next steps, according to Reuters.
Ardern held a news conference on Tuesday in which she said:
“This is something we have prepared for. We have had 102 days and it was easy to feel New Zealand was out of the woods. No country has gone as far as we did without having a resurgence. And because we were the only ones, we had to plan. And we have planned. All travel into Auckland will be restricted for non-residents,’’ said Ardern.
Meanwhile, the remainder of the country will enter the second level of restrictions for the same three-day period. Mass gatherings will be limited to 100 people and social distancing measures will be reimposed, The Hill reported.
“I am urging Aucklanders to come together like we did last time to stamp out community transmission. Please remain calm, please do not panic buy and please follow the lockdown rules,’’ said Auckland Mayor Phill Goff.
The country is preparing for the national election that is about to happen in a little more than a month on September 19th.
According to the polls, the current leadership will win the election once again, but the opposition National Party claims that the end of the coronavirus-free streak was a referendum on the country’s leadership.
National Party Leader Judith Callins said:
“This will come as a shock to all New Zealanders who believed what we had been told, that we had got on top of this virus.’’
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