Friday 14 / March / 2025
Auckland is set to go back into lockdown after a new case of COVID-19 was detected on Saturday.
It is the second lockdown for Auckland's nearly 2 million residents in a matter of weeks.
They entered a snap three-day lockdown on February 14 after a family of three was diagnosed with the more transmissible UK variant of COVID-19.
The seven-day lockdown will go into force at 6 a.m. local time on Sunday.
"It's frustrating. I know it is," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said at a news conference.
Saturday's new case has not yet been linked to the previously discovered family cluster, forcing the government to implement the lockdown, Ardern said.
According to the NZ Herald, the person infected with the case went to the doctor in the afternoon on Friday for a COVID test and then went to the gym.
The rest of New Zealand will be put under Level 2 restrictions that limit public gatherings, among other activities, she added.
