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WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) – The New Zealand government on Monday said it would extend a strict national lockdown until at least Friday as it tries to quell a growing coronavirus outbreak.
The news came as health officials reported 35 new local infections of the fast-spreading delta variant, the highest number of daily COVID-19 cases in New Zealand since April last year.
First discovered last week, the outbreak has grown to 107 cases. But health officials say they have found links between most of these cases, giving them hope they can reverse the epidemic. Authorities said they had tested around 3% of the country’s total population in the past six days.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the lockdown will continue at least until the end of the month in Auckland, where most cases have been found.
“We need more information. We need more certainty. We don’t want to take any risks with delta, ”said Ardern. “If the world has taught us anything, it’s to be careful with this variant of COVID-19. “
Ardern said the modeling suggested the outbreak is expected to peak in a few days and then decline.
One of the reasons blockages are considered essential in New Zealand is that inoculation rates remain low, with only around 20% of people fully vaccinated. Strict lockdown means most people have to stay home, leaving only for groceries or medicine, or for exercise.
Ardern also announced that the government has decided to suspend regular sessions of parliament for a week, a move that has drawn criticism from opposition lawmakers.
“At a time when New Zealanders have the toughest lockdown in the world and have lost our freedoms due to the government’s failure to vaccinate and secure the border, this decision by Jacinda Ardern is unfathomable,” said Judith Collins, Leader of the Opposition.
While New Zealand maintained its strategy of trying to eliminate the virus completely through lockdowns, neighboring Australia appeared to have conceded that the lockdowns would not be able to wipe out the delta variant completely and could only slow its downward trend. spread.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the closures were “not a sustainable way to live in this country”. He said states must open their borders once vaccination rates reach 80% of the population aged 16 and over.
His remarks came as an epidemic in Sydney increased by more than 800 cases, near record levels. Health officials said an outbreak centered in Melbourne also increased by 71 cases and another in the capital, Canberra, increased by 16 cases. The three cities remained blocked.
But in Western Australia, where there are no community infections, Prime Minister Mark McGowan said his government would not reopen at the 80% vaccination level if it involved reintroducing the virus.
About 24% of Australians are fully vaccinated.
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