New Zealand banned a tourist in the capital for a single positive of the coronavirus. Society

New Zealand authorities have announced restrictions in the capital, Wellington. An Australian tourist tested positive for coronavirus After visiting the city, the alert level has gone up to 2 till Sunday. Limits are imposed on meetings in which no more than 100 people can attend, while masks are once again mandatory on public transport. Keeping a safe distance is also essential in places like supermarkets.

There is no further diagnosis related to this positive in New Zealand. However, officials have asked all those who were in 12 public places in Wellington to take precautions such as quarantining infected people and undergoing COVID testing. These spaces have an exhibition hall, a hotel, a pharmacy, bars and restaurants. The country’s health ministry also gives the time slot details risk everywhere

These measures are driven by a single diagnosis. New Zealand has stood out during the pandemic for a very aggressive policy against the virus, raising the alert with very few cases. According to data from the World Health OrganizationThe country with five million inhabitants has recorded only 2,363 positives and 26 deaths since the start of the pandemic. 12% of the population has had at least one dose of the vaccine, according to the data of our world in data. There has been no community transmission in New Zealand for four months, Reuters reports.

New Zealand has its own borders closed for months to the rest of the world, with very few exceptions. In mid-April it reached an agreement with its neighbor Australia, which also had a very positive epidemiological situation. Travel between the two countries was authorized without the need for quarantine and this is the first case in which a tourist tests positive, leading to the postponement of the opening.

The Minister for the COVID-19 response, Chris Hipkins, has highlighted: “We always have plans for situations like this and we’re working on it now.” Hipkins recommends that the population use masks whenever it is not possible to maintain a safe distance, as reported by the newspaper. New Zealand Herald.

Similarly, the minister has stressed that those who have been in the Wellington area during the weekend should abide by these restrictions to avoid any possible spread of the virus. Hipkins has explained that for the time being he has not opted for a confinement because it has been decided to take a “cautious approach” and monitor the situation. Four people who were in close contact with the Australian tourist have been isolated, two of whom have already tested negative.

Relationship to the outbreak in Australia

New Zealand health officials have explained that there is a link between the confirmed positive and the outbreak in Sydney (Australia), with 16 new local infections in the past 24 hours and 31 of the delta variant in total, which were detected in tourists. Last week in the Bondi neighborhood.

To try to stop the expansion of this version, officials in New South Wales (the state to which Sydney belongs) have decided to put in place social distancing measures in the city’s metropolitan area with 5.3 million people and others this Wednesday . Neighboring populations: They limit indoor gatherings to a maximum of five people, use of masks in closed spaces and limit the capacity of commercial premises, while other Australian jurisdictions have banned travel to and from Sydney.

The head of government of New South Wales, Gladys Berejiklian, asked at a press conference that people who live in neighborhoods where COVID-19 cases have been detected avoid traveling out of town. Australia, which has been living a common practice for months broken only by brief and localized confinement to quickly control outbreaks, has accumulated around 30,400 cases, including 910 deaths. 22% of the population has had at least one injection of the vaccine.