New Zealand managed to temporarily reduce the number of corona cases to zero in the past year. But an outbreak of the extra contagious delta variant threw a spanner in the works in August. “With this outbreak and the delta variant, it is incredibly difficult to go back to zero,” Ardern said at a news conference. “This is a change in approach that we’ve always wanted to make over time. However, the delta outbreak has accelerated this transition.”
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29 new corona cases were reported in New Zealand on Monday. This brings the total number of infections during the current outbreak in the country to 1,357. The majority of cases occur in Auckland (1.4 million inhabitants in the city and conurbation), which has been in lockdown for almost 50 days.
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The current vaccination campaign should support the new strategy, Ardern emphasized. According to the government website, 67 percent of people in New Zealand over the age of 12 have had one shot so far. 40 percent are fully vaccinated.
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