New Zealand locks down largest city after cases end 102-day run

New Zealand has put its largest city back into lockdown after recording four new Covid-19 cases, ending a 102-day streak without a local infection.

A three-day lockdown was swiftly imposed in Auckland after the cases were confirmed.

The four new cases are all members of a single family. None had travelled recently.

The restrictions will come into effect on Wednesday, as authorities scramble to trace contacts of the family.

Auckland residents will be asked to stay at home, large gatherings will be banned, non-essential businesses will be shut, and some social-distancing restrictions will be reintroduced in the rest of the country.

The country’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern also on Wednesday postponed the dissolution of parliament, following the latest Covid-19 cases.