World

Wellington (New Zealand), August 26: New Zealand reported 68 new community cases of Delta variant of COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the total number of cases in the country's community outbreak to 277.
The total number of community cases in the largest city Auckland is now 263 and 14 cases are in the capital Wellington, Director of Public Health Caroline McElnay told a press conference.
One case reported on Wednesday has been reclassified as not a case after being confirmed as a false positive, McElnay said.
Of these 68 new cases, 49 of these are Pacific peoples, eight are Asian, three are European, three are Maori, and as yet, the ethnicity is unknown of five, she said, adding that 15 of the current community cases are in a stable condition in hospital. There are no cases in ICU.
All of the cases have or are being transferred safely to a quarantine facility, under strict infection prevention and control procedures, including the use of full PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), she said, adding that the two new Wellington cases are household contacts of a current case and were in isolation during their infectious period.
"As previously indicated, it's not unexpected to see a rise in daily case numbers at this stage. At its peak last year, New Zealand had a daily total of 89 new cases," McElnay added.
There are 154 cases to date which are epidemiologically linked, and a further 123 for which links are yet to be established, McElnay said.
New Zealand will remain at the top level 4 national lockdown until midnight Friday, subject to another review on that day. The country has moved to a lockdown since midnight Aug. 17 after the first COVID-19 Delta variant case in the Auckland community was identified.
Under the Alert Level 4 lockdown, businesses and schools are closed except for essential ones such as supermarkets, pharmacies and service stations.
Meanwhile, New Zealand reported one new case in recent returnees whose travel history is yet to be confirmed. This imported case has remained in a managed isolation and quarantine facility in Auckland, said a Ministry of Health statement.
The total number of active cases being managed in New Zealand is currently 314, and the total number of confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic is 2,871, it said.
Source: Xinhua