The New Zealand city of Auckland will remain in strict lockdown for at least another week. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern extended the measures on Monday until at least September 21, Reuters news agency reported. On Monday, 33 new cases of coronavirus were reported in New Zealand, all in Auckland.
The delta variant ensures a faster spread of the coronavirus in tightly closed New Zealand. All new infections were with this variant. Monday’s numbers were higher than those of the weekend, when 20 new cases were identified on Saturday 23 and Sunday.
New Zealand managed to stay virtually virus-free for months, until a delta-type infection from Australia put the country on new lockdown in August. Auckland is largely isolated from the rest of New Zealand, where there are less stringent coronavirus measures in place.
Correction (September 13, 2021): An earlier version of this article referred to Auckland as the capital of New Zealand. This is incorrect and has been corrected above.
This article is also part of our live blog: New Zealand capital extended for a week
