Ardern Extends New Zealand Lockdown, Urges Delta Caution

(Bloomberg) -- New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern extended a national lockdown for a further four days as a coronavirus outbreak continues to grow, but said some restrictions outside largest city Auckland will be eased next week.

The strict Level 4 lockdown will remain in place until midnight on Aug. 31, Ardern said after a cabinet meeting Friday in Wellington. For Auckland, the epicenter of the outbreak, and the neighboring Northland region, Level 4 is likely to stay in force for another two weeks. However, the rest of New Zealand can move to Level 3 -- a slightly milder lockdown in which some businesses can resume operations -- from Sept. 1, Ardern said.

“We may be seeing the beginning of a plateau in cases,” Ardern said. “Our job is to keep up the hard work in order to bend and then flatten that curve. We have evidence that what we are doing is working, but caution is still required.”

The extension means the country will be in lockdown for a full two weeks and that Auckland, which accounts for about a third of New Zealand’s economy, may be closed for almost a month. Earlier, health officials reported 70 new community cases, taking the total in the current outbreak of the highly infectious delta variant to 347.

Delta is testing New Zealand’s elimination strategy because it is so much more transmissible than the first iteration of the virus and has a shorter incubation period, giving contact tracers less time to find and isolate positive cases before they become infectious. The country has been left vulnerable by one of the slowest vaccine rollouts in the developed world, with only around 22% of its population fully immunized so far.

“Delta is definitely more infectious, and it moves more quickly,” Ardern said. “By far, the most effective tool we have right now is Level 4. Lockdown is making a difference.”

A move to Level 3 south of Auckland won’t mean the national lockdown is lifted. People are still asked to stay at home and work remotely if possible. Schools, daycare centers, shops and public venues are largely closed, and gatherings are restricted to 10 people.

New Zealand, the longest-reigning No. 1 in Bloomberg’s Covid Resilience Ranking, has plunged to 29th place due to the current lockdown.

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