Ardern of New Zealand expands the blockade as the virus outbreak expands

WELLINGTON, Aug. 20 (Reuters) – New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Friday extended a national shutdown as the number of COVID-19 cases in the country increased and the outbreak spread beyond the its largest city, Auckland, to the capital, Wellington.

New Zealanders lived virus-free and unbridled until Tuesday Ardern ordered a three-day fast closure across the country and a seven-day closure in Auckland after discovering the country’s first case since February.

Ardern extended the closure until midnight on August 24, saying the outbreak had spread to other cities.

“We just don’t quite know the scale of this Delta outbreak,” Ardern told the news conference.

Health authorities reported that 11 new cases were reported on Friday, three of which were in Wellington.

The three from Wellington had recently traveled to Auckland and visited places that were identified as exposed to the outbreak, the health ministry said in a statement.

“We want the whole country to be on high alert right now,” Ardern said.

New Zealand Health Chief Ashley Bloomfield warned that the closure could be further expanded in Auckland, the epicenter of the outbreak.

Ardern has won praise for containing the local transmission of COVID-19 through an elimination strategy, imposing harsh blockades and closing New Zealand’s international border in March 2020.

But his government now faces questions about a delay in the deployment of vaccines, as well as about rising costs in a country that is heavily dependent on the immigrant workforce.

So far, approximately 19% of the country’s population of 5.1 million has been completely vaccinated, the slowest among OECD countries.

Praveen Menon Reports; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Gerry Doyle

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