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New Zealand imposes nationwide lockdown over just one Covid case
New Zealand has announced a nationwide lockdown – over a single positive Covid case.
It is the first local transmission for several months and the government is taking no chances, and is working on the assumption it is the Delta variant.
The entire country will lockdown initially for three days.
It was detected in Auckland, which will have an extended seven-day lockdown, as will the town of Coromandel, where the man visited before testing positive.
It means only essential services will remain open during the lockdown.
"I want to assure New Zealand that we have planned for this eventuality. Going hard and early has worked for us before," said PM Jacinda Ardern.
"We have seen what can happen elsewhere if we fail to get on top of it. We only get one chance," Ardern said.
New Zealand’s Ministry of Health said all imported cases detected in recent weeks were all Delta variant.
So far, only about 20% of the population are fully vaccinated.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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