New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern extended a lockdown in the country's biggest city on Friday in response to the first national coronavirus outbreak in months, sticking with a 'go early, go hard' approach she said has proven effective.
WELLINGTON - New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern extended a lockdown in the country’s biggest city on Friday in response to the first national coronavirus outbreak in months, sticking with a “go early, go hard” approach she said has proven effective.
The New Zealand leader said lockdown measures in Auckland, home to about 1.7 million people, and social distancing measures across the country that were imposed on Wednesday would remain in place for another 12 days. Ardern is under pressure ahead of a upcoming general election, with the main opposition National Party accusing the government of failing to secure quarantine facilities and withholding information.
Health Minister Chris Hipkins said earlier that genome testing suggested the new virus outbreak had originated in Britain or Australia. The current Level 3 restrictions in Auckland requiring people to mostly remain at home, and level 2 restrictions for the rest of the country, are not as severe as the five-week level 4 shutdown she imposed earlier in the year.
There were concerns a repeat of that process would come with a huge economic cost and Ardern on Friday announced the extension of a wage subsidy scheme and mortgage deferral program to support businesses and protect jobs.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
New Outbreak In New Zealand Leads To New Rules And Supermarket RunsFour new likely cases of COVID-19 are linked to a cluster in an Auckland family announced Tuesday. The country returns to tighter restrictions and is promoting an app to help with contact tracing.
Read more »
New Zealand reports 12 new confirmed coronavirus casesNew Zealand on Friday reported 12 new confirmed cases of coronavirus for the last 24 hours as the country awaits an announcement from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on whether a lockdown in its biggest city will be eased or extended.
Read more »
New Zealand reports new coronavirus cluster as country battles fresh outbreakNew Zealand reported 13 new community coronavirus cases on Thursday as the country tackles a fresh outbreak that ended an enviable run of more than 100 days without any locally transmitted infections.
Read more »
China’s ‘Eight Hundred’ Lines up August Release in North America, Australia, New ZealandChinese war action film “The Eight Hundred” will open in theaters in North America, Australia and New Zealand at the end of the month, a week after it becomes the biggest local film this year to op…
Read more »
New Zealand scrambles to contain coronavirus resurgence as it heads toward electionNew Zealand was scrambling to trace the source of its first coronavirus outbreak in more than three months, reporting 13 new community infections on Thursday, after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had sought to eradicate the virus with a hard lockdown.
Read more »
New Zealand races to contain first coronavirus outbreak in over 3 months - Business InsiderBusiness Insider is a fast-growing business site with deep financial, media, tech, and other industry verticals. Launched in 2007, the site is now the largest business news site on the web.
Read more »