Covid-19: New Zealand to Go Into National Lockdown Over 1 Confirmed Case

• New Zealand is going into three days of national lockdown after the country positively identified one Covid-19 patient
• The announcement was made by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern who stated that they are not taking chances given the lessons from other countries over the Delta variant
• New Zealanders will, therefore, have to stay in tight-knit families and only go out for food and medical supplies

New Zealand will go into a national lockdown from tonight after reporting one positive case of what is believed to be Delta COVID-19.

During the three-day lockdown, the entire country will be at alert level 4, which is the highest level of lockdown, the Guardian reports.

Some regions like Auckland and Coromandel will have a longer period ranging between four and seven days.

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“Delta has been called a gamechanger, and it is. It means we need to again go hard and early to stop the spread," said Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern.

As part of observing the protocols, residents have been asked to be in close-knit groupings that only include nuclear family members and close dependents.

The members will reduce contact with the outside world and only leave the house to stock food or medical supplies.

Learnt From Others

Jacinda explained that the country was lucky to have witnessed what the Delta variant has done to others therefore able to come up with measures early enough.

She has reason to, as data released by the Ministry of Health pointed to the fact that 100% of Covid-19 cases identified at the country's border in the recent past had been Delta.

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As it is, we are one of the last countries in the world to have the Delta variant in our community, so we have had the chance to learn from others,” she continued.

She referenced the neighbouring countries which are facing “dire consequences of taking too long to act" as the learning point for them not to make mistakes.

Patient is 58 Years Old

The individual who tested positive on Saturday is a 58-year-old man from Devonport, Auckland.

Medics have concluded that the infectious period most certainly started on Thursday 12 as the patient and his wife had travelled to the Coromandel region a day before the test.

“It requires us all to be part of the response, and hard work from everyone across the country will help us get on top of this outbreak,” said the director of health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, calling it a national issue.

As part of the Ministry of Health's containment measures, 23 locations of interest have been earmarked, 13 of them around Coromandel and 10 in Auckland.

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Delta Covid-19 in India

One of the worst-case scenarios of the delta variant is India where it was first detected in October 2020 and went ahead to ravage the country.

Although the number of new infections and death have since reduced, India was recording more than 400,000 new cases on daily basis with several thousand deaths.

The strain has since spread globally and surpassed the alpha variant.

Source: Briefly News