New Zealand reports highest daily number of Covid-19 cases despite ramping up vaccination effort — RT World News
New Zealand recorded the highest daily Covid-19 infected count ever, with only a little over 100 local cases. However, more than 80% of residents had received at least one vaccination. Officials blame rule-breakers for the sudden spike.
The nation’s remaining hopes of achieving ‘zero Covid’ have shown no signs of coming any closer to reality, as Tuesday saw 94 new coronavirus infections. Officials in New Zealand have announced the latest number as a record, surpassing the previous record of 89 infections in one day during the earlier pandemic. The bulk of the new cases were detected in Auckland, the island’s largest city by population, though seven were located in the Waikato district, some 110km (68 miles) south of the metropolis.
Addressing the surge in cases, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern suggested that those running afoul of Auckland’s ongoing lockdown rules – which have been in effect for around two months now – are helping to drive the new infections, and insisted the country is not “powerless” to tackle the health crisis.
“I know the highs and lows of cases is incredibly hard on people, particularly those in Tamaki Makaurau,”According to the PM, Auckland will be called an indigenous name. “I just wanted to reinforce again that we’re not powerless. We do have the ability to keep cases as low as we can.”
Despite a high rate of vaccinations in the country, this new surge is not surprising. Officials say that at least 85 percent of people have been given their first vaccination dose and that 67% have completed the process. Almost 130,000 jabs were made during Saturday’s nationwide ‘Super Saturday Vaxathon’ event, including 91,000 second doses. A little over 93,000 shots was the previous single-day record. There are approximately five million inhabitants of the country, and Auckland is home to over 1.66 million.
Massnews.com also available
New Zealand to phase out ‘zero Covid’ strategy due to vaccination & difficulties with Delta variant
Since long, the isolated Pacific country has kept the disease under control with quick lockdowns, quarantines, and fast identification of local transmissions by mass testing and contact trace. Ardern declared that this strategy could not be implemented due to the SARS CoV-19 virus in the Delta. This was not cause to be concerned, as effective vaccines are readily available.
New Zealand’s target vaccination rate for adults over 12 years old is 90% to reduce restrictions. People fear that this prematurely decided to partially reopen the month and that there may be a shortage of healthcare workers ready for an outbreak.
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