Prognosis
Ardern Defends Elimination Goal as New Zealand Outbreak Grows
- Infectious delta strain challenges Covid-Zero strategies
- Elimination is right for New Zealand ‘for now,’ Ardern says
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New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern defended her Covid-19 elimination strategy as she further extended a strict, nationwide lockdown to counter a worsening outbreak of the delta strain of the virus.
The entire country will remain at Level 4 restrictions, the highest level of lockdown, until midnight Aug. 27, Ardern told a news conference Monday in Wellington. That means the lockdown, initially put in place for three days, will now be in force for at least 10 days. Largest city Auckland, the epicenter of the outbreak, will remain at Level 4 for at least two weeks until midnight Aug. 31.