New Zealand considers extending lockdown after 2 latest virus cases found
17 February, 2021
A coronavirus outbreak in New Zealand grew by two conditions Wednesday to five altogether as lawmakers considered whether to increase a lockdown in Auckland.
The nation's largest city was placed into a three-day lockdown on Sunday after three unexplained cases were within the community. It was the initial lockdown in six months in a nation which up to now has managed to successfully stamp out the pass on of the disease.
The initial cases from the most recent outbreak were a mom, a dad, and their child, who attends senior high school. Well being authorities said both new circumstances were a high college classmate, who was a close contact of the girl, and the classmate's sibling.
However, ramped-up testing has not indicated the virus offers pass on further. Laboratories processed more than 17,000 individual tests on Tuesday, authorities stated, and they as well tested wastewater samples which returned negative.
Senior lawmakers in the Cabinet are meeting Wednesday afternoon to choose whether to increase the Auckland lockdown and the heightened restrictions which may have been imposed in other areas of the country.
Primary Minister Jacinda Ardern said the Cabinet would take into account the simple fact that the classmate had recently been identified as a close get in touch with of the child and have been asked to isolate and also other close contacts.
She said that among close contacts “certainly then it's not surprising to us if we get yourself a positive test result."
Many New Zealanders have been hopeful the lockdown will be short-lived after very little new cases were entirely on Monday or Tuesday.
Genome testing has demonstrated the relatives caught the even more contagious variant first found in Britain.
The mother who caught the condition works at a catering company that does laundry for airlines. Officials have been investigating whether there is normally any connect to infected passengers, but up to now haven't had the opportunity to locate a direct connection or explain the way the outbreak may have begun.
Source: japantoday.com
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