New Zealand abandons "zero-COVID" strategy amid Delta variant outbreak

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Monday the government was abandoning its strategy of eliminating COVID-19 entirely in the country amid a persistent Delta variant outbreak, instead looking to live with the virus and control its spread as vaccinations rise.

Health authorities reported 29 new cases of COVID-19, taking the total number in the current outbreak to 1,357 with the majority in Auckland, which has been in lockdown for nearly 50 days.

Ardern said her strategy has never been to have zero cases, but to aggressively stamp out the coronavirus. She said strict lockdowns would end once 90 per cent of the eligible population is vaccinated. About two million New Zealanders have so far been fully vaccinated – or about 48 per cent of the eligible population.

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