After New Zealand's largest city was put on its fourth pandemic lockdown over the weekend, the mayor of Auckland called for people to be given priority for COVID-19 vaccinations. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's seven-day lockdown of a city of 2 million citizens was triggered by a single new COVID-19 event, reinforcing the New Zealand leader's strict "go hard, go early" response throughout the nation.
New Zealand has been credited with being one of the most effective countries in the world at managing the spread of the coronavirus, but some on social media have criticised the current shutdown. Level 3 constraints, according to Auckland Mayor Phil Goff, would cost the city an estimated 200 jobs and more than NZ$30 million ($21.7 million) every day.
The lockdown forced the cancellation or postponement of many major sporting and cultural activities, as well as traffic chaos over the weekend, with people trying to get home trapped for hours at city checkpoints. The person who caused the closure was contagious and had been out in the neighbourhood for a week.
Over the weekend, two more locally transmitted cases were reported, but no new cases were reported on Monday. After public uproar over claims that the person who sparked the lockdown had made contact with an infected family during the lockdown and had visited public venues after taking a COVID exam, Ardern stated on Monday that the person who sparked the lockdown had made "many mistakes." Since the epidemic started, New Zealand has reported just over 2,000 coronavirus cases and 26 deaths.