New Zealand has highest jump in COVID-19 cases since April 2020
Praveen Menon
WELLINGTON –
New
Zealand
on Tuesday recorded its
highest
increase in
COVID
–
19
cases
since
April
2020
, but authorities said the numbers were not rising exponentially and the majority of the
cases
were still in centred in Auckland where the recent outbreak started.
The South Pacific nation’s virus-free run
since
February ended last week after an outbreak of the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus erupted in Auckland,
New
Zealand
‘s largest city, and quickly spread to the capital Wellington.
Authorities reported 41
new
COVID
–
19
cases
on Tuesday, taking the total number of infections in the country to 148, the Director General of Health Chief Ashley Bloomfield said at a
new
s conference. That is the most
new
cases
since
April
2020
, according to a graphic on the Ministry of Health website.
Of the
new
cases
, 38 are in Auckland and three are in Wellington.
“It is reassuring that we are not seeing an exponential increase,” Bloomfield said, adding that with most
cases
being reported in Auckland, it indicated infections were not widespread.
However, the health ministry said in a statement later on Tuesday that it would not be unexpected to see a rise in daily case numbers at this stage of the outbreak and at its peak last year
New
Zealand
had a daily total of 89
new
cases
.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
has
garnered global praise for stamping out
COVID
–
19
in the country.
But, her reliance on strict border controls and snap lockdowns that have impacted the economy
has
been called into question amid the latest outbreak, which
has
occurred while few people have been vaccinated.
On Monday, Ms. Ardern
extended the strict level 4 national lockdown
by three days until midnight on Aug. 27 while Auckland will have restrictions in place at least until Aug. 31.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson said the government
has
enough funds to tackle the latest outbreak and the economy
has
been “incredibly resilient”.
“A strong public health response is still the best economic response,” he said in the
new
s conference. –
Reuters