New Zealand lifts virus curbs

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday said nationwide coronavirus curbs would be lifted, bar in the biggest city of Auckland, as the country gets on top of an outbreak of the Delta variant.

New Zealand had been largely virus-free, excluding a small cluster of cases in February, until an infected traveller from Australia seeded an outbreak that prompted Ardern to impose the national lockdown last week.

Ardern, who said restrictions would be eased outside of Auckland from Wednesday, is continuing to pursue an elimination strategy for the disease.


"We are within sight of elimination, but we can't drop the ball," Ardern said at a televised news conference. "Day by day we are making very good progress. What I dont want to do is move too quickly and then see a resurgence."

About 1.7 million people in greater Auckland, the epicentre of the outbreak, will remain in a full level 4 lockdown until at least September 14.

The easing of the alert status to level 2 from level 3 in the rest of the country will allow the reopening of schools, offices and businesses. Regional travel will also be allowed.

Face masks will still be required inside most public venues, including shops and malls. Indoor hospitality venues will be limited to 50 patrons and outdoor venues to 100 people. Daily new cases in the current outbreak have dropped from a peak of 85 on Aug. 29 to 20 on Monday.