Updated On: 24 October, 2021 09:09 AM IST | Wellington | Agencies
Once the poster child for stamping out Covid-19, New Zealand continues to struggle to beat the outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant centred in Auckland

PM Jacinda Ardern has conceded Delta was a `game-changer`. Pic/AFP
New Zealand reported 104 new Coronavirus infections on Saturday, including the first community case of the virus in the country’s South Island in nearly a year, health officials said. Most of the new infections were reported in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, that has been under a strict lockdown for more than two months. Looser restrictions are in place in the rest of the country of five million.
The risks of a further spread from the case reported in Blenheim, in the north east of the South Island, remained low, health officials said, with the person likely in the late stage of infection. “So far, initial case interviews have identified a small number of close contacts, who have been contacted and are currently isolating with tests arranged,” the health ministry said in a statement.