| New Delhi, Sep 21: New Zealand will further ease COVID-19 restrictions from this week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced.
Addressing the media, she said, “Auckland will move to alert level 2 from Thursday and the rest of the country will move to level 1 from midnight on Monday.” She appealed to the people to maintain health precautions. “Please continue to use the COVID app, maintain good hygiene practices, stay home and get tested if sick and if you are travelling on a plane that isn’t travelling in or out of Auckland, you are not required to wear a mask, but we do still encourage it, ” New Zealand’s Ministry of health said there were only 62 active cases in the country at present. Most of New Zealand will have coronavirus restrictions lifted from midnight, while Auckland will also have some measures eased later in the week. The capital city of Auckland noticed an outbreak when the city reopened after its strict lockdown and now the city will move to alert level-2 on Thursday. After easing the restrictions, the New Zealand government allowed gathering of 100 people. As per the announcement, the level 2 restrictions will be in place in Auckland for 14 days and New Zealand’s Cabinet will meet again on October 5 to review the situation with an eye towards further easing two days later. Every other New Zealand city is moving to alert level 1, under which many services will operate as normal with enhanced hygiene measures. (Vinayak Barot) |