More than 84,000 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the U.S. on Saturday. Three cases were reported in Auckland, New Zealand.
Now Auckland is going into lockdown.
Prime Minister Jacinda Arden announced the three-day shutdown Sunday, to go into effect at midnight, after a couple and their daughter tested positive.
“I know we all feel the same way when this happens. We all get that sense of ‘Not again,’” Arden said at a press conference. “But remember, we have been here before and that means we know how to get out of this again, and that is together.”
The infected woman works at a catering company that does laundry for airlines, and officials are investigating whether the virus could have spread from a passenger, although she does not go onto the planes.
Auckland’s 1.7 million residents will go under lockdown except for essential shopping and work, health officials said.
“New cases of COVID-19 in the community was something none of us wanted to happen,” Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said, calling the shutdown the “best way to stamp out the virus.”
The family of three brings the total in New Zealand to just four in the last three months.
Among the canceled or delayed events is the America’s Cup sailing regatta.
