WORLD / ASIA-PACIFIC
NZ’s Auckland emerges from strict lockdown; Aussies begins AZ jabs
Published: Mar 07, 2021 04:58 PM
Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand's Prime Minister, looks on during a press conference at Parliament on Sunday in Wellington, New Zealand. Auckland has entered Level 3 lockdown for the next seven days after a new COVID-19 case was detected in the community on Saturday. The rest of New Zealand will be subject to Level 2 restrictions for a week. Photo: VCG

Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand's Prime Minister, looks on during a press conference at Parliament on Sunday in Wellington, New Zealand. Auckland has entered Level 3 lockdown for the next seven days after a new COVID-19 case was detected in the community on Saturday. The rest of New Zealand will be subject to Level 2 restrictions for a week. Photo: VCG

Auckland, New Zealand's biggest city, emerged on Sunday from a strict week-long lockdown imposed after a community cluster of the more contagious British coronavirus variant.

There were no new local COVID-19 cases recorded on Sunday, health officials said, marking a full week of no community transmissions across the country.

Footage on TVNZ, New Zealand's state-owned television network, showed people lining up at coffee shops on Sunday morning with many saying they were feeling relieved.

Auckland, a city of nearly 2 million, will continue to have limits on public gathering and masks are obligatory on public transport. Restrictions might be further eased on Friday.

Neighboring Australia also had no local COVID-19 cases on Sunday, making it the 37th day of no infections in 2021.

Swift public health measures combined with aggressive contact tracing, border closures and compulsory quarantine for travelers have been credited with making New Zealand and Australia highly successful in keeping the pandemic from spreading.

Both countries saw their economies recovering speedily in the second part of 2020. Australia's economy expanded at a faster-than-expected pace in the final quarter of 2020 and all signs were that 2021 has started on a firm footing too.

Coronavirus inoculation began in both countries, with the vaccination rollout in Australia becoming slightly complicated after Italy blocked a shipment of the AstraZeneca's vaccine.

Australia's Health Minister Greg Hunt, among the first who receive the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine on Sunday after an earlier shipment, said the rollout is on track.

Inoculation with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine started in February, but most Australians will be vaccinated with the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.

Reuters