New Zealand city going into 3-day lockdown after virus found
Wellington, Feb 14: New Zealand's largest city of Auckland will be placed in a three-day lockdown beginning just before midnight Sunday following the discovery of three unexplained corona virus in the community.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the move Sunday evening after an urgent meeting with other top lawmakers in the Cabinet. She said they decided to take a cautious approach until they found out more about the outbreak, including whether the infections were of the more contagious variants.
The rest of New Zealand will also be placed under heightened restrictions although will not go into lockdown, Ardern said.
In a significant setback to New Zealand's efforts to keep the coronavirus from spreading in the community, three people from one Auckland family have tested positive with the source of the infections unknown, health officials announced Sunday.
The news prompted Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to cancel her plans and return to the capital Wellington for further briefings and decision-making.
New Zealand had successfully stamped out community spread of the virus, although new cases are regularly caught at the border among returning travellers, all of whom are required to spend two weeks in quarantine.
Officials said they're keeping an open mind on how the Auckland mother, father and daughter caught the disease. They said the mother works at an airline catering company, and officials are investigating whether there is a link to infected passengers.
Officials said the daughter's high school will be closed on Monday and Tuesday as a precaution, but so far they have not announced any broader restrictions.
We are gathering all of the facts as quickly as we can, and the system that served us so well in the past is really gearing up to do so again, said COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins.
He described the cases as new and active. He said scientists are carrying out genome sequencing to see whether the cases are of the more transmissible variants, and also to see whether they match with any infected passengers.
He said there would likely be a further update later on Sunday.
New Zealand has kept COVID-19 contained better than almost any other country, Hipkins said. But as we have kept saying, there is no such thing as no risk.
Ardern on Sunday cancelled her plans to attend the Big Gay Out, a large Auckland festival that celebrates the rainbow community.
New Zealand, with a population of 5 million, has reported a total of just over 2,300 cases and 25 deaths since the pandemic started.
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No exception made in granting interim bail to Kejriwal, critical analysis of verdict welcome: SC
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court said Thursday that it has not made any exception for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in granting him interim bail for campaigning in the Lok Sabha polls and "critical analysis of the judgment is welcome".
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta refused to consider claims and counters of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Kejriwal's lawyer on statements made related to the interim bail to the Aam Aadmi Party national convenor.
"We have not made any exception for anybody, we said in our order what we felt was justified," the bench said, adding that critical analysis of the judgment is "welcome".
Appearing for the ED, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta objected to Kejriwal's speeches in poll rallies that if people voted for AAP, he would not have to go back to prison on June 2.
"It is his assumption, we cannot say anything," the bench told Mehta.
A statement made by a senior Union minister, who was not named during the proceedings, was pointed out by advocate Abhishek Singhvi, who was appearing for Kejriwal.
The top court was hearing Kejriwal's main plea against his arrest.
On May 10, the apex court granted interim bail to Kejriwal in a money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.
The court has asked him to surrender on June 2.
The Delhi chief minister was arrested on March 21.
