New Zealand Prime Minister,Jacinda Ardern have given resident of Auckland just hours to prepare for the return of lockdown restrictions.
This followed the discovery of four members of the same family in Auckland who tested positive for Covid-19, marking the first instance of community transmission in 102 days in New Zealand, whose Covid-19 response has been praised as one of the most successful in the world.
The source of the outbreak has baffled health officials, who said they were confident there was no local transmission of the virus in New Zealand for 102 days.
“We are working hard to put together pieces of the puzzle on how this family got infected,” said Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield.
New Zealand officials are investigating and zeroing in on the potential that the virus was imported by freight.
Bloomfield said surface testing was underway at an Auckland cool store where a man from the infected family worked.
“We know the virus can survive within refrigerated environments for quite some time,” Bloomfield said during a televised media conference.
Residents of Auckland, home to around 1.7 million people, were given just hours to prepare for the return to level 3 restrictions. Auckland’s level three lockdown restrictions, require residents to stay at home except for essential travel, shut down businesses including restaurants, bars and most schools, and limit gatherings to 10 people.
The lockdown will remain in place for at least three days to allow for contract tracing and to assess the situation.
The rest of New Zealand will impose level two lockdown measures, which allow businesses to remain open but with physical distancing, and limits gatherings to 100 people.
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“Going hard, going early with lockdown is still the best response,” Ardern said. “Our response to the virus so far has worked … we know how to beat this.”
China has reported several instances of the coronavirus being detected on the packaging of imported frozen seafood in recent weeks.
The World Health Organization website states there is currently no confirmed case of COVID-19 transmitted through food or food packaging. However, it also notes that studies have shown that the virus can survive for up to 72 hours on plastic.
Reuters/
