Four new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in New Zealand bringing the total number to five, prime minister Jacinda Ardern has announced.
Ms Ardern told Radio New Zealand on Wednesday that all cases have now been confirmed as the Delta variant, and includes one infected Auckland hospital worker.
After earlier finding a single case of coronavirus infection in the community, New Zealand’s government took drastic action by putting the entire nation into a strict lockdown for at least three days.
Auckland, where the first infected 58-year-old man lives, and Coromandel, where he had visited, will go into a full lockdown for seven days and the remainder of the country for three days while health experts try to find the source of his infection.
Contagiousness
The developments prompted people to line up outside supermarkets to stock up on essential items and sparked a sharp drop in the value of the New Zealand dollar.
New Zealand had managed to stamp out the virus, and the last outbreak was in February.
But Ms Ardern had been warning that the contagiousness of the Delta variant would be likely to require more drastic action than previous outbreaks.
Officials said they could not immediately find a connection between the first infected man and the handful of people who have tested positive while isolating in quarantine after arriving from abroad.
The border is seen as the most likely source of any outbreaks. New Zealand has reported just 26 virus deaths since the pandemic began.
The lockdown took effect from just before midnight local time on Tuesday. It requires people to remain at home and avoid others. Most people can leave only to buy groceries or exercise.
