New Zealand

New Zealand Pauses 'Travel Bubble' With Australia Amid Coronavirus Outbreak In Sydney

Scott Neuman

Less than three weeks after launching quarantine-free travel between the two countries, New Zealand is suspending flights from Australia after new cases were found there.

"This is a reminder to all of us that the pandemic continues and that this is a tricky virus," New Zealand's director-general of health, Ashley Bloomfield, said Sunday.

New Zealand Records 1st Suspected COVID-19 Community Case Since November

Avie Schneider

A 56-year-old woman who had traveled to Spain and the Netherlands for work late last year has tested positive for the coronavirus. It's New Zealand's first probable community transmission in months.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Thursday that the government will purchase two new COVID-19 vaccines from pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca and Novavax. The advance purchase gives every New Zealander the ability to be able to be vaccinated.

New Zealand Will Give Free Coronavirus Vaccines To Residents, Neighboring Nations

Jaclyn Diaz

If the vaccines are proven to be safe and effective, the immunization campaign is expected to begin with border officers and other essential workers at the beginning of 2021.

New Zealand's Christchurch Mosque Shooter Sentenced To Life Without Parole

Suzanne Nuyen

The decision to imprison Brenton Tarrant for life marks the first time New Zealand has imposed such a sentence.

"I don't think there's any comparison between New Zealand's current cluster and the tens of thousands of cases that are being seen daily in the United States," New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Tuesday.

Trump's Claim Of A New Zealand Surge Is 'Patently Wrong,' Ardern Says

Bill Chappell

President Trump claimed New Zealand is seeing a "big surge" in coronavirus cases on the same day New Zealand reported nine new cases and the U.S. added nearly 42,000.

"COVID is the world's new normal," New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday, in announcing a delay in national elections.

New Zealand Postpones Elections As It Scrambles To Contain New Coronavirus Outbreak

Brakkton Booker

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said elections would be delayed from Sept. 19 to Oct. 17. After 102 days without community spread, a new COVID-19 cluster in Auckland has grown to 58 cases.

People line up outside a supermarket in a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand, on Wednesday before a three-day lockdown goes into effect. Four new COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in Auckland, and an additional four probable cases have been identified.

New Outbreak In New Zealand Leads To New Rules And Supermarket Runs

Laurel Wamsley

Four new likely cases of COVID-19 are linked to a cluster in an Auckland family announced Tuesday. The country returns to tighter restrictions and is promoting an app to help with contact tracing.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, seen here in May, said Tuesday that the country had four new cases of COVID-19. The government moved quickly to contain the outbreak and increased alert levels throughout the country.

New Zealand On Alert After 4 Cases Of COVID-19 Emerge From Unknown Source

Laurel Wamsley

The cases came after 102 days with no community spread. The four are members of the same family. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a three-day period of high restrictions due to the new cluster.

Residents exercise Sunday at Hagley Park in Christchurch, New Zealand. The country's border remains closed to foreign nationals, and New Zealanders returning home are forced to follow a strict 14-day quarantine.

In New Zealand, Life Was Ordinary Again With No Virus Spread, But It Didn't Last

Laurel Wamsley

The head of the World Health Organization had called the island nation "a global exemplar" for its success in controlling the virus. Four new cases emerge after 101 days with none.

Dr. Ashley Bloomfield, New Zealand's director-general of health, pictured last week, said Tuesday that two women flying in from the U.K. via Australia had tested positive for the coronavirus and had been in isolation since their arrival.

After Weeks Of No New Cases Of COVID-19 In New Zealand, 2 Arrivals Test Positive

Laurel Wamsley

"We will almost certainly see cases here again" Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern predicted last week. "That is not a sign we have failed." The two women in the new cases are in self-isolation.