New Zealand enters lockdown after first Covid case in six months

New Zealand will enter a snap lockdown, after reporting its first case of Covid-19 in the community in six months following a person testing positive in its largest city of Auckland.

The link between the case on Tuesday and the border or managed isolation is yet to be established, the Health Ministry said in a statement, adding the case is now being investigated.

"Going hard and early has worked for us before," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said at a press conference.

"While we know Delta is a more dangerous enemy to combat, the same actions which overcame the virus last year can be applied to beat it again."

It is yet to be determined whether the confirmed case has the Delta variant.

The last reported community case of COVID-19 in New Zealand was in February.

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The Auckland Regional Public Health unit is undertaking interviews with the case for contact tracing purposes, the statement said.

New Zealand will go into lockdown for three days, while Auckland and Coromandel could be locked down for seven days.

NZ has followed a go hard and early response that has helped it virtually eliminate COVID-19 domestically, allowing people to live without restrictions although its international border remains largely closed.

The country has reported about 2,500 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 26 related deaths.

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