New Zealand has announced to impose national lockdown after first case of locally transmitted COVID-19 was reported in six months, reports AFP.

According to the health department, the case has been identified in Auckland, which is the country’s largest city. The department official said there was “a link between the case and the border or managed isolation is yet to be established”.

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This is the first community case since February 28 and ministers would meet later Tuesday to determine how to respond.

“A hard and early response is the best tool to stamp out any potential spread and everyone in New Zealand is asked to stay calm, be kind and play their part while we gather more information on the potential case,” the department said.

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The country was the first to stop the spread of the deadly virus and it has won widespread praise for its coronavirus response, recording just 26 deaths in a population of five million.

But, the vaccine rollout has been very slow and only around 20 percent of the population fully inoculated.

Auckland has been forced into several brief periods of lockdown since an initial nationwide response last year succeeded in largely halting the virus at the border.

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The most recent stay-at-home orders in the city of two million ended in March.

Officials warned last week that the presence of the Delta variant in New Zealand would trigger “a short, sharp lockdown”.

On Monday, New Zealand announced that it will not open its borders for travellers until the end of this year. Prime Minister Jacinda Arden said the border will remain closed at least till the end of 2021.

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Delivering a speech, she stressed on how her government will ramp up COVID-19 vaccination programme and prepare to reopen its borders in a phased manner. She said their ultimate goal was to allow quarantine-free travel for all vaccinated travellers, and that they are not in a position to fully reopen just yet.

Arden said her priority was to vaccinate the country’s population by the end of 2021.