New Zealand enters 3-day lockdown after man tests positive to COVID

New Zealand has announced a snap three-day lockdown after a man tested positive for Covid, the first case in six months.The case was detected in Auckland, which will be in lockdown for a week, while the rest of the country will be in lockdown for three days. Authorities say they are working on the assumption that the new case was the Delta variant. The 58-year-old man’s positive test is the first in New Zealand for 170 days. Authorities are not yet sure how he contracted the virus but say he has been infectious since August 12.
Just around 20% of its population has been fully vaccinated. Coromandel, a coastal town where the infected person had visited, will be in lockdown for seven days too. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the toughest "level 4" rules were required - closing schools, offices and all businesses with only essential services remaining operational.There are at least 23 potential sites of transmission. There was reportedly a rush at supermarkets in Auckland, as locals anticipated a snap lockdown.

The level four restrictions mean New Zealanders will only be able to leave their homes for exercise in their own neighbourhood, essential shopping and to seek medical assistance. All gatherings have been cancelled and businesses, except essential services, will be forced to close. It has been 12 months since New Zealand face such harsh restrictions, with life having returned to normal. But recently, all cases required overseas have been of the Delta variant, posing far greater risk if the virus spread into the community as it now has.