Health authorities in New Zealand yesterday were scrambling to trace the source of a new outbreak of COVID-19 as the nation’s largest city went back into lockdown.
Authorities had confirmed four cases of the SARS-CoV-2 in one Auckland household from an unknown source and were awaiting the test results of four more people they suspect have infections — two work colleagues and two relatives of those in the house.
The cases this week were the first known local transmission of the virus in the nation in 102 days.
Photo: AP
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said more than 200 people with connections to those in the house were contacted yesterday.
“Our plan of mass testing, rapid contact tracing and, of course, our restrictions to stop the chain of transmission has been in full swing in Auckland today,” Ardern said.
New Zealand Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said one of the people who tested positive works at an Americold food cold-storage facility in Auckland, which was being swabbed to check if it was a possible source of the infections.
“We do know from studies overseas that actually, the virus can survive in some refrigerated environments for quite some time,” he said.
The cluster came as an unpleasant surprise to many and raised questions about whether the nation’s general election would go ahead as planned next month.
Bloomfield said two of the people who had tested positive had traveled to the city of Rotorua while suffering symptoms over recent days and had visited several tourist attractions.
“People in Rotorua and indeed around the country should be vigilant about their health and seek advice if they have symptoms,” he said.
Auckland was moved to Alert Level 3 at midday yesterday, a designation initially set to continue through midnight tomorrow.
That means non-essential workers are required to stay home, while bars, restaurants and most businesses will be closed.
The rest of the country was moved to Alert Level 2, meaning mass gatherings are limited to 100 attendees and people are required to socially distance themselves.
Bloomfield said they would use genome sequencing as part of their effort to find the source of the new outbreak.
Ardern said Aucklanders were also “strongly encouraged,” but not mandated to wear masks, and that authorities were releasing 5 million masks from a central supply.
The nation’s parliament was due to be dissolved yesterday ahead of a general election on Sept. 19 as lawmakers hit the campaign trail.
However, Ardern said she was delaying the dissolution until at least Monday next week in case lawmakers needed to meet at short notice. She said she was also seeking advice about options for the election.
Under New Zealand law, the government could delay the elections for up to about two months. The main candidates have already canceled most of their planned campaign events.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia