Health officials asked the residents of Auckland New Zealand to stay at home as strict quarantine rules are extended because of rapid increase in covid-19 in their country
The country’s biggest city was placed on a three-day Level 3 lockdown on Wednesday after authorities recorded a cluster of new locally-transmitted Covid-19 cases for the first time in 102 days. The initial four cases were linked to a single family that had currently visited tourist spots in the town of Rotorua. The number of cases increased up to 30 on Friday, all of which were linked to the mass in Auckland. This prompted Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to extend the lockdown until August 26.
Level 3 means that people cannot leave their homes unless traveling is necessary, like picking up groceries, medicines Police checkpoints were set up outside city to maintain quarantine observation and monitor movement.
The rest of the country is on Alert Level 2, which is less restrictive. Authorities are hoping to curb the groups of infections by contact-tracing and ramping up testing, including requiring mandatory tests in all of New Zealand’s ports.
