Aukland, New Zealand — New Zealand confirms 14 new coronavirus cases in the country.
The 14 cases have been reported just a day after the biggest of New Zealand, Aukland went back into lockdown.
The country has had no reports of locally transmitted cases for more than three months until a four new infected family members were found earlier this week.
Of the confirmed 14 cases, 13 cases are linked back to this family and the remaining one is an overseas arrival who was in quarantine.
The authorities imposed a three-day lockdown in Aukland on Wednesday.
“We can see the seriousness of the situation we are in,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a news conference.
“It’s being dealt with in an urgent but calm and methodical way.”
The officials reported that the confirmed cases will now go into quarantine and their contacts may also be quarantined.
New Zealand is widely praised over the world for its early response to the pandemic. The country has again moved swiftly to reimpose strict movement restrictions in Auckland and social distancing measures across the country.
New Zealand had gone a complete 102 days without recording a locally transmitted case of Covid-19 until Tuesday. New Zealand is undoubtedly one of the few countries to reach such a milestone.
