Authorities in Wellington announced today (Tuesday) that the closure of the corona in the country will be extended until at least the end of August, following the outbreak of the delta variant in the country, which has already led to 148 new cases within a week.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardren has announced that the country will enter a Level 4 closure, the most severe level of closure, and citizens will be able to leave their homes only for essential needs such as shopping or fitness.
"The safest option is to continue on the path we are on. The number of infections in New Zealand may continue to rise before we see any improvement. The virus has an advantage over us, its spread is faster than our ability to track cases," Arden admitted.
A deserted street in the city of Auckland due to closure // Photo: AP,
Dr. Ashley Bloomfield, director general of the state Department of Health, said at a news conference today that the Delta variant "is unlike anything we've faced in the past in terms of its rate of infection. We've seen a rapid spread from what we've come to know."
Chris Hippkins, the minister in charge of the country's corona crisis, said the spread of the door variant in the country "raises serious questions" about New Zealand's ability to continue to persist in an approach it has so far relied on to fight the plague.
The state went into closure last week following a single case of community infection that was discovered in Auckland, the state's largest city and the focus of the new variant of the Delta variant.
New Zealand has so far managed to avoid a serious outbreak of the corona virus and less than thirty people in the country have died from the disease