The city will move to alert level 1 from 11.59 p.m. on Wednesday,
joining the rest of the country, after reporting no new cases in the
Auckland cluster for 10 consecutive days.
"There is now a 95% probability of the cluster being eliminated,"
Ardern said at a news conference. "COVID-19 will be with us for many
months to come. But we should still mark these milestones."
New Zealand, a nation of five million, appeared to have stamped out
community transmission of COVID-19 earlier this year following a
tough nationwide lockdown that was subsequently lifted.
The renewed Auckland outbreak, detected in August, was the biggest
the country had seen with 179 linked cases, prompted Ardern to
reinforce restrictions in Auckland.
[to top of second column] |
The easing of measures means there will be no 100 people limit on gatherings in
Auckland, and no physical distancing rules in bars and restaurants.
The country recorded one new case on Monday, involving a New Zealander returning
from overseas, taking its total number of confirmed cases to 1,499, including 25
deaths.
Ardern's success in containing coronavirus has played a major part in putting
her firmly ahead in polls for a general election on Oct. 17.
(Reporting by Praveen Menon; Editing by Kim Coghill and Jane Wardell)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |