New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern vows to eliminate Delta as outbreak widens
- The Wellington sufferers had travelled to Auckland, visiting locations identified as having been exposed to the outbreak
- Ardern's critics are questioning if she can repeat last year's feat of almost stamping out COVID-19
- According to reports, Friday's 11 new cases, three in Wellington, took New Zealand's tally of infections to 31
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Friday urged people to adhere to her strategy to stamp out the fast-spreading Delta variant as she extended a strict lockdown amid a surge in the deadly virus cases.
According to reports, Ardern’s critics are questioning if she can repeat last year’s feat of almost stamping out COVID-19, as her government is struggling to get the population vaccinated in the face of the more infectious Delta variant.
In a news conference, Ardern said, “We have been here before…we know the elimination strategy works.”
Also read: ‘Go hard and early ‘: New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern on lockdown
“Cases rise and then they fall until we have none. It’s tried and true…we just need to stick it out,” she added.
The New Zealand Prime Minister extended the lockdown for the population of 5.1 million until midnight on Tuesday as the outbreak widened beyond the largest city, Auckland, to the capital, Wellington.
According to reports, Friday’s 11 new cases, three in Wellington, took New Zealand’s tally of infections to 31.
Recently, the Wellington sufferers had travelled to Auckland, visiting locations identified as having been exposed to the outbreak.
Also read: Onam amid pandemic: COVID protocols in place this year
“We just don’t quite know the full scale of this Delta outbreak,” Ardern added. “We want the whole country on high alert right now.”
It can be seen that New Zealanders had been living virus-free and without curbs until Ardern on Tuesday ordered a snap 3-day nationwide lockdown, with a seven-day shutdown for Auckland, after the discovery of the first case since February.
Health chief Ashley Bloomfield has warned that the lockdown in outbreak epicentre Auckland could be further extended.
The tough lockdowns and international border closure in March 2020 helped rein in COVID-19, but the government now faces questions over a delayed vaccine rollout, as well as rising costs in a country heavily reliant on an immigrant workforce.
It is reportedly said that about 19 per cent of the population has been fully vaccinated, the slowest pace among the wealthy nations of the OECD grouping.
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