New Zealand recorded 13 new local cases of the coronavirus on Thursday and said it will transfer anyone infected into quarantine facilities, as the government attempts to stamp out the nation’s first outbreak in more than three months.
The cluster of infections in the largest city of Auckland now stands at 17 people and the government will decide tomorrow whether to extend a three-day lockdown there. Health Director-General Ashley Bloomfield told reporters in Wellington that he expects the number of infections to grow, and the mandatory quarantine would help stop the spread of the virus through households.
