Coronavirus: New Zealand locks down aged care as precaution

New Zealand locked down nursing homes nationwide on Wednesday after health authorities identified four suspected cases.

People queue outside a supermarket in Auckland on Wednesday. Picture: Getty Images

New Zealand locked down nursing homes nationwide on Wednesday after health authorities identified four suspected cases, as Jacinda Ardern said the outbreak could force her to postpone the September 19 general election.

The Prime Minister said authorities were trying to trace those who had contact with four members of an Auckland family who tested positive on Tuesday, as four more suspected cases were identified.

Health officials launched a widespread testing blitz after learning two members of the family visited Rotorua, three hours’ drive south of Auckland, while a third went to work at a finance company.

In addition, health authorities confirmed a fifth case, a woman in her 50s who arrived from Islamabad on August 7. She tested positive on her third day in managed isolation and has been moved to quarantine facilities.

Director-general of health Ashley Bloomfield said the four suspected cases were awaiting test results, “but they are all being treated as probable cases and therefore are in full isolation and full contact tracing has been initiated for those cases”.

“Just over 200 close contacts have been identified and over a hundred of those have already been phoned and spoken with,” Dr Bloomfield told a press conference on Wednesday.

A three-day stay-at-home order for Auckland went into force at lunchtime on Wednesday. Ms Ardern said health officials were also locking down aged-care homes across the country, as they could be transmission hotspots.

AFP