New Zealand orders quarantine for returning citizens in coronavirus battle
09 April, 2020
New Zealand orders quarantine for returning citizens in coronavirus battle
New Zealand will begin moving citizens to compulsory quarantine from Friday because they return from overseas, upgrading its efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus halfway through a four-week nationwide lockdown.
The shutdown started in late March in the Pacific nation of about 5 million, and circumstances of national emergency was declared to stifle local transmissions of the respiratory disease.
"Nobody goes home, everyone switches into a managed facility," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, adding that 2 weeks spent in a government-approved facility will be a prerequisite for all foreign travellers.
"Even one person slipping through the cracks and bringing the virus in can easily see an explosion in cases, as we've observed with some of our bigger clusters," she told a media briefing in Wellington on Thursday.
Ardern added that her cabinet would decide whether to increase the nationwide curbs on April 20, two days prior to the lockdown is set to get rid of.
The lockdown has reduced domestic transmissions, authorities said, with a steady fall this week in the daily rise in infections.
The tally of infections rose by 29 to stand at 1,239 on Thursday, for the lowest daily rise since March 21, an indicator the epidemic could be on the retreat because the lockdown began 15 days ago. Overnight, 35 people were declared to have recovered.
New Zealand, like neighboring Australia, has fewer infections than many countries and the pace of infections in both nations has slowed drastically previously week.
Despite some signs of a plateau in infections, the federal government said it had no plans to relax the curbs over the Easter weekend and warned of hefty fines for non-essential travel then.
Police will intensify activity around holiday spots through the Easter holidays, authorities said, with some roadblocks planned.
Source: www.thejakartapost.com
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