New Zealand, which has been praised for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, launched its largest city on Wednesday after the country recorded its first cases of COVID-19 in more than 3 months.
Four members of a circle of Auckland relatives tested positive, leading Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to re-impose strict restrictions on the city and social estrangement measures across the country until at least Friday.
To complicate matters, fitness officials said two inflamed circles of family members had visited tourist sites in the city of Rotorua, about 140 kilometres southwest of Auckland, expanding the number of others who might have potentially been exposed. The circle of relatives had not traveled abroad.
“As we have noticed in other countries where a resurgence is taking place, it is amazing to act early,” said health director Ashley Bloomfield.
“We already have it and we can do it again,” he added.
Residents of Auckland, a city of about 1.7 million people, have had very little time to prepare for the pass back to Level 3 restrictions, forcing others to stay in the house, paint the house and, if possible, wear a mask when they pass out. All schools, public establishments, bars, restaurants and were also closed.
Police set up barricades to deter a mass exodus from Auckland, while supermarkets rationed the sale of some commodities amid a stampede. Long queues formed at the COVID-19 control centers of the city.
Although the source of the virus is unknown, fitness officials are investigating whether the virus may have been imported through the payload.
New Zealand, which holds national elections in mid-September, monitored to keep the virus under control of the pandemic, registering 1,225 cases shown and 22 deaths.
Despite having a small population, with fewer than five million, New Zealand has recorded only 4,506 deaths consisting of millions, at nearly five00 million in the United States, according to Oxford University figures.
In June, Ardern had “done a little dance” to celebrate the news that New Zealand had no active case of COVID-19.
While the resurgence of the virus after 102 days of local transmission is a setback for the country’s efforts to engage the pandemic, Ardern remained optimistic.
“If we get our prompt reaction at this critical stage, we have the opportunity to reduce the time we’ll have those tougher restrictions, and that’s a lesson we all learned together,” Arden said, adding that the new restrictions are incredibly frustrating for many. People.
Meanwhile, neighboring Australia recorded its deadliest day of the coronavirus pandemic on Wednesday and the largest buildup of infections in 3 days.
An infections organization in Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city, led the government last week to impose a night-s/hes can, tighten restrictions on people’s displacements, and order the closure of much of the state’s economy.
Officials in the country’s remote Northern Territory said Tuesday that they would continue with strict border controls until at least 2022.
“If you can, cancel your Christmas vacation plans and here in the Northern Territory,” the Territory’s Chief Minister, Michael Gunner, told ABC News in Australia.
Worldwide, the number of COVID-19 cases has exceeded 20 million, and the United States, Brazil and India account for more than half, according to knowledge compiled through Johns Hopkins University. The international death toll stands at more than 740,000.
The virus has wraged the world economy, and the financial effects of the pandemic have left thousands of people around the world without pictures or depending on government licensing programs.
The biggest contraction reported through a primary economy to date was announced on Wednesday in the UK.
Local said the UK economy fell to a record 20.4% between April and June, as it entered recession for the first time in 11 years.
“Today’s figures show that times are tough,” Chancellor Rishi Sunak told Sky News in Britain, which, like NBC News, is owned by Comcast. “Hundreds of thousands more have already lost their jobs and many more will.”
Britain has suffered the worst coronavirus outbreak in Europe with more than 46,000 deaths to date.
Reuters contributed to the report.