‘We beat the virus again’: COVID restrictions in Auckland lifted

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Monday that coronavirus restrictions in Auckland would be lifted this week, as she expressed confidence the second wave of coronavirus infections in the country’s biggest city had been almost eliminated. “It felt longer, and dragged on in what was already starting to feel like a very long year,” she said. “But despite this, Aucklanders and New Zealanders stuck to the plan that has worked twice now, and beat the virus again.” The city will move to alert level 1 before midnight on Wednesday, joining the rest of the country, with no new cases reported in the Auckland cluster for 10 consecutive days. “There is now a 95-percent probability of the cluster being eliminated,” Ardern said at a news conference. style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0; bottom: 0; right: 0; left: 0;">