Auckland lockdown to end as New Zealand tries new virus tack

&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpcnt">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpa">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<span class&equals;"wpa-about">Advertisements<&sol;span>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"u top&lowbar;amp">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<amp-ad width&equals;"300" height&equals;"265"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; type&equals;"pubmine"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-siteid&equals;"111265417"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-section&equals;"1">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;amp-ad>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div><p>Bars&comma; restaurants and gyms can reopen in Auckland from early December but customers will be required to show proof they have been fully vaccinated&comma; New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The announcement removes the last remnants of a lockdown that began in the country’s largest city in August&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>It also signals a new phase in New Zealand’s response to the pandemic&comma; in which people around the country will need to be fully vaccinated in order to take part in anything from getting a haircut to watching a concert&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Ms Ardern said New Zealand would move into a new pandemic &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;traffic light” system based around the use of vaccine passports from December 2&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The system will mark an end to the lockdowns which New Zealand used effectively to completely eliminate virus outbreaks during the first 18 months of the pandemic&comma; but which failed to extinguish an August outbreak of the more contagious delta variant&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Ms Ardern last month set an ambitious target of getting 90&percnt; of all eligible people across each of 20 health districts fully vaccinated before moving to the new system&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>But although the vaccination rates will fall short of that target by early December&comma; she said it is time to make the move anyway&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Currently about 83&percnt; of New Zealanders aged 12 and over are fully vaccinated&comma; but the rate in some health districts is as low as 73&percnt;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The government has faced increasingly belligerent protests against vaccination requirements and pandemic restrictions&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Opinion polls show support for Ms Ardern and her liberal government has slipped since they won a landslide election victory just over a year ago&comma; although they remain more popular than their conservative opponents&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The current outbreak appears to have stabilised&comma; with about 200 new infections reported each day&comma; most of them in Auckland&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>About 85 New Zealanders are currently in hospital with Covid&comma; and the country has reported just 40 virus deaths from a population of five million since the pandemic began&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The hard truth is that delta is here and it is not going away&comma;” Ms Ardern said&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;And while no country to date has been able to eliminate delta completely once it’s arrived&comma; New Zealand is in a better position than most to tackle it&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div style&equals;"padding-bottom&colon;15px&semi;" class&equals;"wordads-tag" data-slot-type&equals;"belowpost">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div id&equals;"atatags-dynamic-belowpost-68ed0b8f71434">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<script type&equals;"text&sol;javascript">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;window&period;getAdSnippetCallback &equals; function &lpar;&rpar; &lbrace;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;if &lpar; false &equals;&equals;&equals; &lpar; window&period;isWatlV1 &quest;&quest; false &rpar; &rpar; &lbrace;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&sol;&sol; Use Aditude scripts&period;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;window&period;tudeMappings &equals; window&period;tudeMappings &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&semi;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;window&period;tudeMappings&period;push&lpar; &lbrace;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;divId&colon; 'atatags-dynamic-belowpost-68ed0b8f71434'&comma;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;format&colon; 'belowpost'&comma;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&rcub; &rpar;&semi;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&rcub;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&rcub;&NewLine;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;if &lpar; document&period;readyState &equals;&equals;&equals; 'loading' &rpar; &lbrace;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;document&period;addEventListener&lpar; 'DOMContentLoaded'&comma; window&period;getAdSnippetCallback &rpar;&semi;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&rcub; else &lbrace;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;window&period;getAdSnippetCallback&lpar;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&rcub;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;script>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>


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