'Act As If You Have COVID, As Though People Around You Have It': NZ PM Jacinda Ardern Appeals As Virus Returns After 102 Days

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today (Aug 11) that four new cases of coronavirus had emerged in one Auckland household from an unknown source, the first reported cases of local transmission in the country in 102 days, AP reported.

The country had earned widespread praise for a record 102 days of no new transmissions of novel coronavirus and touted as the model on how to beat the virus with the strictest regulations in the world.

Ardern said Auckland, the nation’s largest city, will be shut down from midday on Wednesday. People in Auckland will be expected to work from home unless they are essential workers, and schools will close, as will bars, cafes and restaurants until the end of the week.

The warning level in the rest of the country will be raised to Level 2 through Friday, meaning that mass gatherings will be limited to 100 attendees and people would need to socially distance themselves from each other.

“These three days will give us time to assess the situation, gather information, make sure we have widespread contact tracing so we can find out more about how this case arose and make decisions about how to respond to it once we have further information,” Ardern said at a televised news conference today.

“Act as if you have COVID, and as though people around you have COVID.” Ardern appealed to the people.

Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said the infections were confirmed after a person in their 50s went to their doctor on Monday with symptoms and was swabbed twice, testing positive both times. Six other people in the person’s household were then tested, with three more positive results.

The World Health Organization held New Zealand up as the model for other countries to follow crediting the speed of its actions. It was one of the few in the world which had returned to normal life with full sports stadiums and open nightclubs but it always maintained its strict border controls.