3-day snap lockdown in New Zealand as first Covid case detected in 6 months

New Zealand government on Tuesday put the entire country into a strict lockdown for three days after finding a single case of coronavirus infection.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern invoked the “team of 5 million” — which is New Zealand's population — to go hard and early in trying to eliminate the latest outbreak.

This is the first case the country has seen in six months. The Delta variant case is suspected to be locally transmitted.

The sudden lockdown prompted people to line up outside supermarkets to stock up on essential items and sparked a sharp drop in the value of the New Zealand dollar.

New Zealand had managed to stamp out the virus, and the last outbreak was in February. But Ardern had been warning that the contagiousness of the delta variant would likely require more drastic action than previous outbreaks.

New Zealand has also been slower than other developed nations to inoculate its population, leaving it vulnerable to outbreaks. Only 32% of people have had at least one shot and 18% are fully vaccinated.

And officials have been viewing a growing outbreak in nearby Sydney with alarm, saying they don't want to make the same mistakes by waiting too long to impose strict measures.

Health officials said genome testing would not verify until Wednesday whether the infected 58-year-old man had the delta variant, although they were working under the assumption he does.

Officials said they could not immediately find a connection between the man and the handful of people who have tested positive while isolating in quarantine after arriving from abroad. The border is seen as the most likely source of any outbreaks.

The move into the strictest lockdown underscored the vastly different approach New Zealand has taken to the virus than most other nations, which are attempting to suppress its spread rather than eliminate it entirely.

New Zealand has reported just 26 virus deaths since the pandemic began.