New Zealand, Under Lockdown Over Single Delta Case, Detects 6 More

Coronavirus: Six cases have been identified in New Zealand, all connected to the single delta infection discovered Tuesday.

New Zealand began a strict nationwide lockdown as it faces an outbreak of the delta variant, which on Wednesday was linked to the worsening Covid-19 crisis in neighboring Australia as cases in New South Wales rose to a record high of more than 600. A further six cases have been identified in New Zealand, all connected to the single delta infection discovered Tuesday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told reporters in Wellington. That was the first community case detected in the nation since February, with genome testing of the original case showing a clear link to the outbreak in Australia's New South Wales state. The increase in New Zealand came as New South Wales recorded 633 new cases of the delta strain on Wednesday -- a 32% surge from the previous daily high recorded just two days earlier -- as the virus tears through Sydney, the country's largest city, despite nearly two months of lockdown. The restrictions have since been widened to the entire state. "Every person who has the virus is spreading it to at least more than one person," New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters. "What the data is telling us in the last few days is that we haven't seen the worst of it. And the way that we stop this is by everybody staying at home."