New Zealand's Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, told reporters at her daily media briefing that the country's coronavirus epidemic is going to "get worse before it gets better," The Guardian reports.
"As we all learnt from our first experience with Covid, once you identify a cluster, it grows before it slows," she said. New Zealand now has 17 confirmed cases in Auckland, which has been in level-3 lockdown for the last few days and faces the prospect of having the restrictions extended beyond their initial three days. Schools and daycare centers have been closed, along with non-essential businesses, and people are being advised to stay home.
In addition, a new government policy requires those receiving a positive diagnosis to enter government-managed quarantine, rather than self-isolate at home, as was previously the case. Some resistance to this move has been reported, but the government insists that a tough policy is essential in order to defeat the epidemic.
New Zealand had gained acclaim around the world for apparently eliminating the coronavirus up until several weeks ago, with 102 days with no reported cases.