New Zealand Imposes Nationwide Lockdown After Detecting Single COVID-19 Case

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that she will be locking down the entire nation after officials reported one new case of COVID-19 in its largest city of Auckland. Ardern said Tuesday that strict lockdown and movement restrictions would be put in place starting Wednesday.

Level 4 lockdown rules, the toughest level imposed by the government, will be put in place for three straight days for all of New Zealand. Auckland and Coromandel, where the infected person was traced to have been in, will be under the toughest lockdown rules for seven days instead of three.

As part of the lockdown, all schools, offices, and businesses will be shut down. Only essential services will be allowed to operate. People have been ordered to stay at home and to avoid moving around their towns and cities unnecessarily.

"We have made the decision on the basis that it is better to start high and go down levels rather than to go low, not contain the virus and see it move quickly," Ardern said.

Ardern said they are taking every precaution possible, and health authorities assume that the new case was a Delta variant infection. She added that they are already assuming the worst and that there could be other cases, although it has not yet been confirmed.

Local reports identified the infected individual as a 58-year-old man from Devonport. The unvaccinated man and his fully vaccinated wife reportedly traveled to Coromandel over the weekend. Health authorities are now reportedly tracking down people he may have come into contact with during his travels.

The planned lockdown on Wednesday will be New Zealand's first in over six months. The last reported case of COVID-19 in the country was in February. Since then, the country has largely returned to normal thanks to the government's "go hard and early" strategy. New Zealand was one of the first countries in the world to declare its "COVID Free."

During most of the pandemic, New Zealand has kept its international borders closed while allowing its citizens to live with minimal restrictions. Since the crisis began, the nation has reported only about 2,500 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 26 deaths.