The city of Auckland, New Zealand, has gone on lockdown following the discovery of three cases of the coronavirus.
The nation announced on Sunday that for the next three days, residents of the city will be asked to stay home whenever possible, and many businesses will close as part of New Zealand’s level three restrictions. During that time, officials will try to assess the amount of community spread.
The rest of the country will be on alert level two, which requires social distancing and mandatory mask-wearing on public transportation.
“Three days should give us enough time to gather further information, undertake large-scale testing, and establish if there has been wider community transmission,” Prime Minister Jacinda Arden said on Sunday evening.
Of the three individuals who tested positive, all were members of the same family, but none had traveled recently, NPR reported, leading to fears that there may be undetected community spread in the city.
The last time any part of the nation at level three was in August.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, New Zealand has reported 2,330 cases and 25 deaths attributed to the virus.
