COVID-19: New Zealand extends lockdown in Auckland by at least 12 days

Auckland: New Zealand on Friday extended a lockdown of it's largest city Auckland by at least 12 days, PM Jacinda Ardern announced, as authorities struggled with a growing new coronavirus outbreak. “Cabinet has agreed to maintain our current settings for an additional 12 days, bringing us to a full two weeks in total," Ardern said.

Since four people tested positive on Tuesday — the first cases in community transmission in 102 days — New Zealand has detected a cluster of 30 virus cases.

Most of those cases have been found around Auckland, a city of 1.5 million people who have been asked to stay at home. Authorities are still struggling to find out how the virus came to return to New Zealand.