New Era

Delta outbreak grows in New Zealand

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WELLINGTON - New Zealand conceded its ambitious “Covid zero” eliminatio­n strategy may no longer be viable Sunday, as an outbreak of the virulent Delta variant continued to spread.

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins reported a further 21 cases in a virus cluster that emerged in Auckland last week, ending a six-month run of no local cases and sparking a national lockdown.

Hipkins said Delta’s highly transmissi­ble nature was making this outbreak more difficult to contain than others, raising “big questions” about the eliminatio­n strategy.

“The scale of infectious­ness and the speed at which the virus has spread is something that, despite all the best preparatio­ns in the world, has put our system under strain,” he told TVNZ.

New Zealand’s widely praised Covid-19 response - which has resulted in just 26 deaths in a population of five million centres on eliminatin­g the virus from the community.

It has relied on strict border controls backed by hard lockdowns when any cases do slip through, but Hipkins said Delta may force a rethink.

“(Delta’s) like nothing we’ve dealt with before in this pandemic,” he said. “It does change everything, it means that all of our existing preparatio­ns begin to look less adequate and raises some pretty big questions about the future of our long-term plans.”

Neighbouri­ng Australia has also pursued a “Covid zero” strategy and been similarly frustrated as its Delta cases continue to spike.

The New Zealand outbreak has underlined the country’s slow vaccinatio­n rollout and prompted accusation­s the government became lax after its early success dealing with the pandemic.

Only about 20% of the population is fully inoculated, one of the lowest rates in the developed world. Opposition National Party spokesman Chris Bishop said the outbreak had exposed a lack of urgency in Wellington’s vaccine plans.

“The government’s complacenc­y and inability to ensure supply and delivery of the vaccine has made us all sitting ducks, completely vulnerable to the Delta variant when it inevitably got into the community,” he said.

Another opposition figure, ACT Party leader David Seymour, said Hipkins could not use the Delta variant as an excuse for current failures. “We’ve known about Delta since December, what’s he been doing in the meantime?” he asked.

Hipkins said eliminatio­n remained top priority for the ongoing Delta outbreak, which now totals 71 active cases - 65 of them in Auckland and six in Wellington.

The national lockdown is due to expire late Tuesday, although Hipkins indicated Auckland could face further restrictio­ns even if they were lifted elsewhere. “If I was an Aucklander, I’d certainly be preparing to be at home for a bit longer,” he said.

 ?? Photo: nzherald.co.nz ?? New Zealand Covid-19 response minister Chris Hipkins
Photo: nzherald.co.nz New Zealand Covid-19 response minister Chris Hipkins

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