Coronavirus: New Zealand to lock down after local case detected; Singapore may allow vaccinated travellers
- The entire country will be placed in a hard lockdown for at least three days, meaning all schools and non-essential businesses must close
- Meanwhile, Singapore may start with pilot arrangements for travellers ‘bubble wrapped to prevent transmission of the disease’, trade minister said
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the case was detected in Auckland on Tuesday. As a result, the entire country will be placed in a hard lockdown for at least three days.
All schools and non-essential businesses will close, and people will only able to leave their homes to visit the supermarket, for solo exercise, or for medical care.
Ahead of the lockdown announcement, long queues formed outside supermarkets around the country, with reports of fights breaking out among shoppers over groceries.
“We’ve seen the dire consequences of taking too long to act,” Ardern said. She added that genome sequencing of the case was under way and there was no known link to the border as yet.
“Every case in managed isolation and quarantine recently has been the Delta variant, and Delta is surging around the world,” she said. “While we can’t confirm it yet, we need to assume our case will be, too.”