WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Health authorities in New Zealand were scrambling Wednesday to trace the source of a new outbreak of the coronavirus as the nation's largest city went back into lockdown.
Authorities had confirmed four cases of the virus in one Auckland household from an unknown source and were awaiting the test results of four more people they suspect have infections — two work colleagues and two relatives of those in the house.
The cases this week were the first known local transmission of the virus in New Zealand in 102 days.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said more than 200 people with connections to those in the house were contacted Wednesday.
“Our plan of mass testing, rapid contact tracing and, of course, our restrictions to stop the chain of transmission has been in full swing in Auckland today," Ardern said.
Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said one of the people who tested positive works at an Americold food cold-storage facility in Auckland, which was being swabbed to check if it was possible source of the infections.
“We do know from studies overseas that actually, the virus can survive in some refrigerated environments for quite some time,” he said.
The cluster came as an unpleasant surprise to many and raised questions about whether the nation's general election would go ahead as planned next month.
Bloomfield said two of the people who had tested positive had traveled to the city of Rotorua while suffering symptoms over recent days and had visited several tourist attractions.
“People in Rotorua and indeed around the country should be vigilant about their health and seek advice if they have symptoms," he said.
Auckland was moved to Alert Level 3 at midday Wednesday, a designation initially set to continue through midnight Friday. That means that non-essential workers are required to stay home, while bars, restaurants and most businesses will be closed.
The rest of the country was moved to Alert Level 2, meaning that mass gatherings are limited to 100 attendees and people are required to socially distance themselves.
Bloomfield said they would use genome sequencing as part of their effort to find the source of the new outbreak.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she had worked quickly to impose the Auckland lockdown measures after first learning about the cases Tuesday afternoon.
She said Aucklanders were also “strongly encouraged” but not mandated to wear masks, and that authorities were releasing 5 million masks from a central supply. New Zealanders have not widely worn masks before, although authorities have been urging people to buy them or fashion them from scarves or bandannas just in case.