Aucklanders woke up on Monday to a new lockdown, hoping the short and sharp three-day restrictions ordered by Jacinda Ardern arrest the spread of Covid-19.
The prime minister said genomic testing had shown that the three community cases were the UK variant of Covid-19.
Those cases – a mother, father and daughter from one Auckland family – mean 1.6 million Kiwis face bans on non-essential movement until midnight on Wednesday as part of alert level three restrictions.
The lockdown is the second time Auckland has undergone the emergency measures since last year’s more stringent 51-day nationwide lockdown which helped New Zealand eliminate the virus.
The rest of New Zealand has been placed at alert level two, which mandates social distancing, caps on gathering and increased mask wearing.
It is not yet clear whether the lockdown will extend beyond midnight on Wednesday, as health authorities work to gain a full picture of the virus’s spread.
On Monday, the Ministry of Health said no new cases of Covid-19 had been recorded in the community though there were another five in managed isolation, bringing the country’s total number of active cases to 47.
It was still investigating the Auckland cases, it said, meaning, “the number of locations of interest, close and casual plus contacts may change”.
“The priority is for close contacts and casual plus contacts to be tested so we can understand any risk in the community,” it added.
Ardern said genomic sequencing had shown the virus was one of the slightly more infectious strains.
“We were right to take a cautious approach and focus on safety because we’ve confirmed it is the UK variant,” she told Radio NZ.
“Based on that sequencing we haven’t been able to link it to any of our managed isolation facilities ... it wasn’t someone who went from an airline into our managed isolation.”
She said health officials were still trying to identify the source of infection, working on two main leads.
Speaking alongside Dr Ashley Bloomfield, director general of health, later on Monday after a cabinet meeting, Ardern also said the first batches of vaccine had arrived in the country. After being tested for quality assurance, inoculations were set to begin as planned on Saturday, with border workers the first priority, she said.
“This will be the largest full-scale vaccination campaign in this country’s history,” she said. Cabinet had not discussed extending the restrictions past Wednesday, as they were waiting for the full picture to emerge.
Bloomfield meanwhile said investigations into the source of the Auckland family’s infection were focusing on the mother and daughter as serology testing had indicated the father’s infection was at an earlier stage.
As the mother worked at a business servicing airlines at Auckland airport, officials are looking at whether the virus may have slipped out through a transit passenger, or via laundry of air crew. Seven of the mother’s nine co-workers have so far returned negative test results.
Contact tracers have also identified 42 close contacts outside of the household, including the daughter’s classmates and teachers, with all test results so far received proving negative.
Prior to developing symptoms, two of the family members went for a short break in New Plymouth during the Waitangi weekend on 6-7 February and visited various locations. The family is now in quarantine while a fourth household member is in isolation.
“There may be a scenario where we aren’t able to answer what happened here,” Ardern warned.
The health ministry said the Institute of Environmental Science and Research was conducting a scan of the international genome database to find a match.
To add to the difficulty of finding the source, it appears the infected family did not fulfil personal contact tracing as the government would like.
New Zealanders are being asked to download a Covid Tracer app and scan QR codes to record movement and who they pass by.
“It’s a good timely reminder to everyone. Please turn on the Bluetooth function and keep scanning,” Ardern said.
Ardern is asking for patience, calmness and for “New Zealanders to continue to be strong and be kind”.
“Remember, we have been here before. That means we know how to get out of this: together,” she said.
Australia has halted quarantine-free travel for New Zealand for an initial three-day period, starting Monday.
Australia’s medical experts met on Sunday night to declare New Zealand a red zone, meaning people arriving from New Zealand will need to go into hotel quarantine for 14 days.