AUCKLAND: New Zealand health officials shared on Friday that the country’s resurgent corona virus outbreak has spread beyond Auckland, dealing a major blow to efforts to contain the infection.
Health Minister Chris Hipkins said there were 12 more cases of community transmission, and one probable, following the shock re-emergence of the virus in Auckland this week.
He said two of the infections were found in the North Island town of Tokoroa, around 210 kilometres south of Auckland.
The infections outside Auckland come despite a strict lockdown in New Zealand’s largest city, including masked police blocking roads to seal its borders.
Hipkins played down fears the failure to ringfence infections to Auckland meant the virus could now be rampant elsewhere
