New 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.
FILE PHOTO: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks during a joint press conference held with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison at Admiralty House in Sydney, Australia, February 28, 2020. REUTERS/Loren Elliott/File Photo
“Once again we are reminded of how tricky this virus is and how easily it can spread,” she said during a televised news conference on Thursday. “Going hard and early is still the best course of action.” She said that experience showed “things will get worse before they get better”, and more cases were likely to be reported in coming days.Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said health officials were getting “closer every hour” to finding the patient zero of the outbreak.
On Thursday, Bloomfield said that importing the virus via freight was considered “a low possibility” as the infection source, but officials wanted to formally rule it out. China has reported the virus on frozen food packaged in South America. Ardern is on track to easily win the election, according to recent polls, but the National Party is pressuring her to delay the vote until at least November, arguing their inability to campaign gives Ardern an unfair advantage.
Police set up checkpoints at the city’s borders as scores of people attempted to leave to avoid a sustained lockdown, as Ardern warned they would be turned back.
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