COVID-19: New Zealand PM lifts lockdown in Auckland, says 'we beat the virus again'

During a news conference on October 5, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern announced that coronavirus restriction in Auckland will be lifted this week as the city will be moving to alert level 1 from 11.59pm on October 7. By lifting the restrictions, Ardern expressed that the second wave of infections has been eliminated in Auckland. According to a tally by the John Hopkins University, New Zealand has a total of 1,855 cases with 25 fatalities. 

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New Zealand fights coronavirus

Earlier in a press conference, Ardern had said that throughout the pandemic, New Zealand has maintained a very low death rate and also has one of the lowest death rates in the world. Previously, Arden, who is currently campaigning for her reelection, had talked about easing social distancing measures on aeroplanes. She had explained that the new rules would allow airlines to ease all physical distancing requirements in the planes. This would particularly benefit Air New Zealand which had to limit its seating capacity due to measures. However, masks would still be mandatory on all public transport, land and air.

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Arden’s government was praised internationally for its coronavirus response as at one point the country had eradicated the deadly virus. However, in early September, New Zealand again reported a cluster of infections in Auckland. The COVID-19 pandemic which saw its first outbreak in a wet market in Wuhan, China last year has now spread all across the world. The virus, named COVID-19 by the World Health Organisation, has infected 35,400,650 people worldwide with the global death toll reaching 1,041,824.

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(Image Credits: AP)