Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is expected to announced a snap lockdown at about 6.10pm tonight following news of a community Covid-19 case in Auckland.
Auckland and Coromandel will go into level 4 lockdown for seven days – and the rest of the country for three days – at this stage, a source close to the Government said.
This information has not been confirmed but the changes are expected to take place from midnight tonight.
The Herald understands the case is a Devonport resident aged in their 50s.
The link between the case and the border or managed isolation is yet to be established.
The All-of-Government Response Group started meeting at 3pm and Cabinet received an officials’ briefing, including advice on what measures were needed, at 4.30pm.
Ardern returned to Wellington earlier this afternoon.
The Ministry of Health is advising anyone in Auckland taking public transport this evening or who cannot socially distance in public spaces to wear a mask.
/cloudfront-ap-southeast-2.images.arcpublishing.com/nzme/YQWQJVBWFR4YZCCXQLTXET4R3U.jpg)
The Government would not confirm any further details on the case this afternoon, including what part of Auckland it was in, or whether the person had moved around.
Newstalk ZB’s political editor Barry Soper said he was told by a reliable source the person travels frequently between Auckland and Coromandel – however that information has not yet been confirmed by officials.
The last reported community case of Covid-19 in New Zealand was in June when an Australian traveller visited Wellington.
Prior to that it was February 28, 170 days ago.
The Prime Minister was first advised of the case about 1pm when there was still limited information available.
STORY CONTINUES AFTER LIVE BLOG
STORY CONTINUES
Last week, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins told the country to expect an alert level 4 lockdown if any Delta cases pop up in the community.
While the variant has not yet been revealed, in the last community case in Wellington the Government acted on the assumption it was Delta. All cases at the border in the past three weeks have been Delta.
The potential response Hipkins alluded to was different to past community cases with the original variant, which saw lower alert levels initially introduced for as long as 72 hours while further information was acquired.
Hipkins said the increased transmissibility of Delta and evidence of how quickly it could spread in New South Wales meant a “swift and severe” lockdown could be needed here if there were any new cases.
Other factors that could contribute to a stricter lockdown include the country’s poor QR scanning habits, insufficient contact-tracing systems based on a Delta outbreak, and the Auckland population being still mostly unvaccinated.
High winter demand in hospitals also means they could be easily overwhelmed during an outbreak.
0 Comments