New Zealand Returns To Lockdown

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a nationwide lockdown after the country confirmed one coronavirus case. It’s the first locally transmitted Covid-19 case in the community since February. Ardern reported it is assumed the case is the Delta variant, but genome sequencing is underway. An unvaccinated 58-year-old man in the country's largest city, Auckland, tested positive for the virus. The man had traveled to other parts of the country and had an obvious link to the border, so the strictest level of lockdown will be followed for the next three days. Under level four lockdown, everyone must stay home, and businesses are closed aside for essential services such as supermarkets and pharmacies. New Zealand has been praised for its handling of the virus. It closed borders to almost all foreign nationals early and imposed strict state-run quarantines on incoming travelers. New Zealand has reported fewer than 3,000 Covid-19 cases and only 26 deaths in a population of about 5 million. But New Zealand has been slow to vaccinate, with less than 20% of the people fully immunized.