Delta Variant Spreads Outside Auckland City, New Zealand, PM Ardern Implies 5 Day Lockdown

Illustrations (Photo: Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - The spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19 in New Zealand has spread beyond the largest city, Auckland, and prompted Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to impose lockdowns in several more areas.

As of Sunday, October 3 today, there were 32 cases of coronavirus recorded in Auckland. The city has been under lockdown since mid-August.

Meanwhile, two cases were found in the Waikato area, which is about 147 kilometers south of Auckland. Ardern said a five-day lockdown would be imposed in parts of the region.

Prime Minister Ardern said Monday the government would make a decision on whether the lockdown in Auckland would continue. Earlier in mid-August, Ardern, imposed a lockdown that was meant to be "short and tight" across the country to contain the spread in Auckland, where the number of cases now stands at 1,328. However, while other cities in the country have returned to normal life, the city on the North Island remains under lockdown.

"We are doing everything we can to keep cases from spreading out of Auckland, and contain the spread from there," Ardern said.

New Zealand was one of the few countries that managed to suppress the spread of COVID-19 to zero last year, and until August remained without any cases of the virus.

However, the difficulties of eradicating the Delta variant have put Ardern's strategy into question.

In the midst of mounting pressure, Ardern said that her strategy had never actually been to target cases reaching zero, but rather to aggressively fight the virus.

He said that the strict lockdown could be ended if 90 percent of the eligible population had received the vaccination. Meanwhile, this target has only reached 46 percent.

COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said on Sunday that from November 1 full vaccination would be a requirement for those arriving in New Zealand and who are not residents of the country, from November 1.

Air New Zealand said on Sunday it would require international flight passengers to have received a complete COVID-19 vaccination.

"We have an approach to COVID in our sights, and in our hands," Ardern said on Sunday.

"So as we all look ahead and think about summer, and the plans we make, make sure that the first step is vaccines. This is what will make all those summer plans possible.