Coronavirus: Auckland lockdown ends; Australia sees record daily deaths

Name: South Korea sees biggest coronavirus outbreak in five months with cases linked to church protest
Uploaded: 2020-08-31T02:48:41.000Z
Duration: 1 min 27 s
Description: South Korea sees biggest coronavirus outbreak in five months with cases linked to church protest

Auckland schools reopened and a ban on travelling out of the city was lifted almost three weeks after the outbreak prompted the reintroduction of curbs

Australia’s virus epicentre Victoria reported 41 Covid-19 fatalities on Monday

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A coronavirus-inspired street art mural in Melbourne. Photo: EPA-EFE

Agencies

Published: 10:48am, 31 Aug 2020Updated: 10:44pm, 31 Aug 2020

New Zealand’s largest city has exited lockdown after the government said a Covid-19 outbreak there has been brought under control and it remains on track to again eliminate the virus from the community.

Auckland schools and customer-facing businesses reopened on Monday and a ban on travelling out of the city was lifted, almost three weeks after the outbreak prompted the reintroduction of restrictions. Social distancing requirements remain in place for the whole country under level 2 restrictions and everyone from the age of 12 is now required to wear a mask on public transport.

“Our testing shows that it is highly unlikely there is Covid anywhere else in the country and we want to keep it that way,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Sunday. “The last thing we want from reopening Auckland is to spread the virus around the country, and that is one of the reasons we continue to have level 2 settings across New Zealand,” she said.

The government expects to further review all alert settings by September 6.

New Zealand became the envy of the world earlier this year when it succeeded in eliminating community transmission of the coronavirus by imposing a strict nationwide lockdown. Ardern said the government continues to pursue an elimination strategy and is confident it can stamp out the outbreak in Auckland, home to about a third of New Zealand’s five million people.

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South Korea sees biggest coronavirus outbreak in five months with cases linked to church protest

The Auckland cluster has grown to 135 cases in total, and the government expects new infections among close contacts to continue for some time. The source of the outbreak is still being investigated. New Zealand has 137 active cases, 20 of which are returnees from overseas who were quarantined on arrival.