WELLINGTON: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Wednesday (Mar 25) declared a state of national emergency as the country prepared to go into a complete lockdown at midnight to combat the coronavirus outbreak.
New Zealand’s cases of the coronavirus surged to 205 cases as the government imposed self-isolation for everyone, with all non-essential services, schools and offices to be shut for a month.
“From midnight tonight, we bunker down for four weeks to try and stop the virus in its tracks, to break the chain,” Ardern told parliament.
“Make no mistake this will get worse before it gets better. We will have a lag and cases will increase for the next week or so. Then we’ll begin to know how successful we have been.”
READ: ‘Help us fight this’: New Zealand PM appeals for cooperation as COVID-19 cases jump by 40 ahead of lockdown
Ardern told parliament the lockdown was triggered by early evidence of community transmission of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. A record 50 new cases were confirmed on Wednesday.
“If you have any questions about what you can or can’t do, apply a simple principle: Act like you have COVID-19,” Ardern said.
“Every move you then make is a risk to someone else. That is how we must all collectively think. That’s why the joy of physically visiting other family, children, grandchildren, friends, neighbours is on hold. Because we’re all now putting each other first. And that is what we as a nation do so well.”
Explore: Interactive map of all the confirmed cases reported around the world
All non-essential services, bars, restaurants, cafes, gyms, cinemas, pools, museums, libraries, playgrounds and any other place where the public congregate will be closed.
Supermarkets, doctors, pharmacies, service stations and access to essential banking services will all be available.
Ardern warned the restrictions will be strictly enforced.
This is only the second time in New Zealand’s history that a national emergency has been declared, with the first one on 23 February 2011, after a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck the South Island city of Christchurch, killing almost 200.
New Zealand, with about 5 million people, has fewer infections than many other countries, but Ardern’s government wants to move fast to halt the spread. It was one of the first to force all arriving travellers into self-isolation and to ban indoor and outdoor gatherings.
READ: Australia warns of impending health system crisis amid surge in coronavirus cases
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Cases in neighbouring Australia have soared past 2,250 and officials have warned infections could overwhelm medical services.
India’s 1.3 billion population also went into complete lockdown for 21 days to protect the world’s second-most populous country from coronavirus.
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