New Zealand

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — By early next week, New Zealanders should know if their government’s strict new lockdown is working to stamp out its first coronavirus outbreak in six months.

A successful effort could again make the nation’s virus response the envy of the world. A failure could expose flaws in its health system, including a shortage of hospital beds and a slow vaccine rollout.

The high-stakes campaign hinges on whether new infections, which have risen for the past 10 days, begin to drop.

Wellington, Aug 26 (AP-PTI) New Zealand has reported 68 new community cases of the coronavirus, the largest daily increase since April of last year as an outbreak of the delta variant continues to grow.

The government put the nation into a strict lockdown last week as it tries to stamp out the outbreak, which has grown to a total of 277 infections.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand’s government on Monday said it will extend a strict nationwide lockdown until at least Friday as it tries to extinguish a growing coronavirus outbreak.

The news came as health authorities reported 35 new local infections of the fast-spreading delta variant, the highest number of daily COVID-19 cases in New Zealand since April last year.

WELLINGTON, Aug 18 (Reuters) - New Zealand's city streets were largely deserted on Wednesday as the country returned to life in lockdown for the first time in six months in a bid to halt any spread of the infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus.

New Zealand had been virus-free and living without curbs until Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern ordered a snap 3-day nationwide lockdown on Tuesday after a single case, suspected to be Delta, was found in the largest city Auckland.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand’s government took drastic action Tuesday by putting the entire nation into a strict lockdown for at least three days after finding a single case of coronavirus infection in the community.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern invoked some of the stirring rhetoric she used early in the pandemic by urging the “team of 5 million” — New Zealand’s population — to go hard and early in trying to eliminate the latest outbreak.

“We have seen what happens elsewhere if we fail to get on top of it,” Ardern said. “We only get one chance.”

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand, which has completely stamped out the coronavirus, plans to cautiously reopen its borders to international travelers early next year, the government said Thursday.

Officials also said they would delay second shots of the Pfizer vaccine in order to speed up first shots to protect more people as the threat of the delta variant grows.

New Zealand’s success in erasing the coronavirus has allowed life to return almost to normal. The South Pacific nation of 5 million people has reported just 26 deaths since the pandemic began.

WELLINGTON, Aug 11 (Reuters) - New Zealand progressed with its plans to make it easier to change a person's sex on their birth certificate on Wednesday as legislation moved through parliament with support from all political parties.

The self-identification bill was introduced to ensure New Zealand has the best process for transgender, non-binary and intersex people to formally acknowledge their gender, the government said in a statement, after the bill had its second reading in parliament on Wednesday.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Google co-founder Larry Page has gained New Zealand residency, officials confirmed Friday, stoking debate over whether extremely wealthy people can essentially buy access to the South Pacific country.

Immigration New Zealand said Page first applied for residency in November under a special visa open to people with at least 10 million New Zealand dollars ($7 million) to invest.

WELLINGTON, July 17 (Xinhua) -- The top priority for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders is "achieving widespread access for vaccines globally and working collaboratively to provide them to everyone as soon as possible," New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Saturday.

WELLINGTON, July 5 (Xinhua) -- The largest shipment of Pfizer vaccines yet has arrived two days ahead of schedule thanks to a joint effort by the Ministry of Health, Pfizer and logistics company DHL, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said on Monday.