All of New Zealand will go into a snap three-day lockdown on Tuesday (17 Aug) after confirming one case of COVID-19 in Auckland.
Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula to be in lockdown for seven days.
The case was the first case reported in the community in 06 months.
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“The best thing we can do to get out of this as quickly as we can is to go hard,” New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told a news conference.
“We have made the decision on the basis that it is better to start high and go down levels rather than to go low, not contain the virus and see it move quickly,” she said.
Imposing its toughest level 4 lockdown rules, schools, offices and all businesses will be shut down and only essential services will be operational.
New Zealand Health Chief Executive Dr. Ashley Bloomfield said the case was a 58-year-old man who became symptomatic on Saturday.
The man’s wife has been tested and since returned a negative result.
