New Zealand records first new local Covid-19 cases in 102 days
A swift, early lockdown appeared to have quashed the spread of Covid-19 and made New Zealand the envy of the world as daily life returned to normal, free from restrictions. But that all changed on Tuesday when four cases of the coronavirus – the first spread locally from an unknown source in more than 100 days – were diagnosed in Auckland, plunging New Zealand’s largest city, into a strict three-day shutdown.
The mystery cases were all diagnosed in one family, and Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s prime minister, said “many questions” remained about their source.
At a hastily-arranged, late night news conference at parliament in Wellington on Tuesday, Ardern said those who had tested positive did not work at the country’s borders and had not traveled from overseas. They also had no known connection with the managed isolation facilities where all New Zealanders returning to the country from overseas must spend two weeks in quarantine.
Before the four fresh cases on Tuesday, all 22 active cases of the coronavirus in New Zealand were diagnosed in isolation at the quarantine hotels.
One of the new cases was diagnosed in a person in their 50s who lives in South Auckland; that person was tested on Monday and a second test on Tuesday, also returned positive. Three others of the six people living in the house have tested positive for the coronavirus; one of those diagnosed was a preschooler.
The family’s contacts – and multiple workplaces – are being tested.
Now, officials are asking Aucklanders to stay at home for at least three days, starting from noon on Wednesday, as they attempt to trace the source of the infections. Under the so-called “level three” rules – one step down from the strictest level four – Aucklanders should not go out unless they need to travel for work, or they are shopping or exercising.
Contact with others should be kept to a minimum, with all schools and childcare centres, and most businesses, closed. Supermarkets will remain open, and takeaway food and coffee will be available.
In the meantime, case numbers are expected to rise.
“We’re expecting to see other cases,” Ashley Bloomfield, New Zealand’s director-general of health, said. “We want to find those other cases as soon as possible and identify or isolate any contacts.”
Since early June, when all remaining restrictions – except the strict border controls – eased on the country, New Zealanders have revelled in being one of the safest and most relaxed countries in the world when it came to Covid-19; so much so that Ardern and Bloomfield had begun to warn in recent weeks of “complacency.” The country would certainly see a community outbreak of the virus again, they said.
“I know that this information will be very difficult to receive,” Ardern said in the live broadcast news conference on Tuesday, when she announced the new cases.
“As a team we have also been here before,” she told New Zealanders. “We know that if we have a plan and stick to it we can work our way through difficult and unknown situations.”
The city-wide lockdown – the wider
Auckland region is home to nearly 2m of New Zealand’s 5m people – was a “cautious” approach, said Ardern, but the three-day window gave officials time to gather the necessary information about the outbreak before she made longer-term decisions.
“Moving an entire city and New Zealand’s largest city into level three restrictions is not something we’ve taken lightly,” she said. But she added it would not have been possible to effectively isolate one small part of the city.
In recent weeks, New Zealanders have watched in horror as cases surged once more in the Australian state of Victoria – a situation Ardern has referenced often when urging vigilance among the population. She and officials had been concerned with the number of people reportedly declining Covid-19
tests, and piecemeal uptake of the government’s contact-tracing app.
Now New Zealand was among the growing list of countries to record success in quelling the virus – only to see a resurgence.
Ardern “absolutely” understood New Zealand’s disappointment, she said. “That is a completely natural feeling. We have 102 days and it was very easy to feel like New Zealand was out of the woods.”
But, she added, New Zealand had “gone the longest” of any country in the world without community transmission. “Because we were the only ones, we always knew we had to plan.
“My request is not to be dispirited or disheartened,” she said.
Only those who are returning home are allowed to enter Auckland – and only those who live elsewhere are allowed to leave New Zealand’s largest city. Ardern warned against panicbuying at Auckland supermarkets ahead of the Wednesday lockdown, but photos on social media showed large crowds and long queues following the news.
The restrictions on the rest of the country are less stringent – but will be noticeable for a population that has grown accustomed to no rules. New Zealanders outside of Auckland should not gather in large numbers, should work from home if they can, and should wear masks if physical distancing is impossible.
New Zealand is less than six weeks from an election, with lawmakers crossing the country in whistle stop tours. Ardern – who has recently been in
Auckland where the Covid-19 outbreak has been recorded – said she would remain in Wellington for the next three days.
She would not be drawn on how much longer the restrictions could last if the source of the Auckland infections was not found, or whether she was considering a delay to the election scheduled for 19 September.