Skift Take
No tourists permitted till 2022 and now the hardline choice to lock down all of New Zealand after one, yes, one suspected Delta case. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern can not be a preferred amongst travel businesses in the country at this point.
Tom Lowry
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern put New Zealand under rigorous lockdown on Tuesday after the country’s very first coronavirus case in 6 months was reported in the biggest city of Auckland.
Ardern’s “go hard, go early” strategy has assisted suppress COVID-19 however her statement left people struggling to accumulate basics, services shutting quickly and schools and offices making last-minute modifications to browse the web.
All New Zealand will be in the most difficult, level-four lockdown for at least 3 days from Wednesday. Auckland and Coromandel, a seaside town where the infected person also hung around, will be in lockdown for 7 days.
“The very best thing we can do to get out of this as rapidly as we can is to go hard,” Ardern informed a press conference.
“We have decided on the basis that it is much better to start high and decrease levels rather than to go low, not consist of the infection and see it move quickly.”
Schools, offices and businesses will close and only important services will be operational.
Shoppers crowded grocery stores as news of the new case and the imminent lockdown spread.
Ardern said authorities were assuming the patient, a 58-year-old man from Auckland who was not determined, had contracted the highly contagious Delta variant of COVID-19 although genome sequencing was yet to be completed.
There may also be other cases, she stated.
The Auckland Regional Public Health unit is interviewing the client for contact-tracing purposes and COVID-19 vaccinations are to be suspended for a minimum of 2 days.
‘Lifting Our Game’
The last reported community case of COVID-19 in New Zealand was in February. Its people have been living without limitations although international borders have actually mainly stayed closed.
The country has overall reported about 2,500 confirmed coronavirus cases and 26 related deaths.
Ardern said that under the level-four lockdown people need to stay at home, leaving only for vital services. Protective face masks should be worn at all times when leaving home.
“Beating Delta means raising our game,” Ardern said.
“I ask New Zealanders to please follow the rules to the letter. We know from proof overseas that the Delta version can spread out simply by walking past somebody.”
The New Zealand dollar tumbled on the announcement, falling 1.5% to $0.6926 after the lockdown was announced.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand is extensively anticipated to raise rates of interest on Wednesday. However one bank, Westpac, stated it now anticipated the reserve bank to keep the main cash rate (OCR) the same.
(Reporting by Praveen Menon; Editing by Stephen Coates, Edwina Gibbs and Timothy Heritage)
This article was written by Praveen Menon from Reuters and was legally licensed through the Market Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to [e-mail safeguarded]
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