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Wellington:
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday prolonged a lockdown in New Zealand’s largest metropolis, saying extra time was wanted to make sure a cussed cluster of coronavirus infections was underneath management.
Ardern mentioned stay-at-home orders would stay in place throughout Auckland till a minimum of late Sunday, as a substitute of restrictions easing late Wednesday as initially deliberate.
“These extra four days are believed necessary to allow us to move down a level in Auckland, and stay down,” she mentioned.
“We want both confidence and certainty for everyone.”
Auckland went into lockdown on August 12, a day after the virus re-emerged within the metropolis, ending New Zealand’s file of 102 days with out neighborhood transmission.
The cluster has since grown from 4 to 101 and its supply stays unknown, regardless of in depth genome testing and make contact with tracing.
Ardern mentioned extra circumstances had been doubtless and well being authorities wanted to verify the cluster was contained earlier than altering the lockdown settings.
She mentioned even when the Auckland restrictions are eased, all the nation might stay at Level Two, the second-lowest score on New Zealand’s four-tier virus alert system.
It means social distancing and limits on mass gatherings till a minimum of Sunday, September 6.
Ardern additionally mentioned masks could be obligatory on public transport and flights.
New Zealand suppressed the virus with a strict seven-week lockdown earlier this yr and its re-emergence has compelled the nation’s normal election to be pushed again to October 17 from September 19.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is printed from a syndicated feed.)
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