New Zealand is reeling from its first coronavirus outbreak in more than three months, throwing the largest city Auckland back into lockdown and threatening to dent the economic recovery.
The country’s run of 102 days without community transmission ended late yesterday with the announcement that four new cases had been detected in an Auckland household. It is now trying to stop the virus spreading and avoid the fate of nations like Australia, Japan and Vietnam, which after early successes in containing Covid-19 are now battling its resurgence.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Wednesday put Auckland, a city of 1.6 million people, into lockdown for an initial period of three days as authorities try to trace the origin of the infections. Social distancing rules and limits on gatherings have also been reimposed on the rest of the country.
New Zealand had been the envy of the world after it eliminated local transmission of Covid-19 with a strict nationwide lockdown in April and May, and its economy bounced back strongly once restrictions were lifted. Now that recovery may be at risk as businesses close in Auckland and chances dwindle of the nation re-opening its border to foreigners any time soon.
“From an economic perspective, the news is a blow,” said Nick Smyth, a strategist at Bank of New Zealand in Wellington. “The economy had rebounded much quicker than expected. The news overnight reinforces the still-fragile nature of the recovery.”
From noon Wednesday, Auckland will move to level 3 on New Zealand’s Covid alert system, signaling people should stay at home if possible and avoid contact with others. Schools will close for most pupils while bars, restaurants and customer-fronting businesses will shut. Travel into and out of the city will be restricted.
The rest of the country will go to level 2 restrictions that include social distancing and limiting the size of gatherings to 100. In addition, all aged-care facilities around New Zealand are being placed into lockdown.
Scientists have warned that more cases are likely to be found, raising the likelihood that restrictions will have to remain in place for longer than three days.
The four people who tested positive are now in isolation and the government is racing to find all of their close contacts. Some work colleagues of one of the people are showing symptoms, Ardern told a news conference. Before testing positive, two of the people traveled to the North Island city of Rotorua last weekend and visited tourist attractions.
The outbreak comes just weeks before the Sept. 19 election, with Ardern’s Labour Party riding high in the polls due largely to her successful management of the pandemic.
The main political parties today suspended their election campaigns, and the leader of the main opposition National Party, Judith Collins, said the September vote is now in doubt.
Unless the outbreak can be resolved quickly, the government will have to look at delaying the election, Collins told Radio New Zealand. National’s campaign launch now probably won’t proceed as planned on Aug. 16 in Auckland, she said.
Ardern delayed the dissolution of parliament until at least Monday but said it’s too early to make a decision on the election.
The government has the flexibility to hold the vote anytime before Nov. 21, she said.
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