New Zealand reports two new local COVID-19 cases

New Zealand reported two new locally transmitted cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, just hours before authorities are due to announce whether a lockdown in the country’s biggest city of Auckland will be extended.

Auckland’s nearly 2 million residents were plunged into a snap three-day lockdown on Monday, after a family of three – two adults and a child – were diagnosed with COVID-19, with at least two determined to be the more transmissible UK variant.

The two latest cases are siblings studying at the same school as the child, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins told members of a health select committee.

The Auckland lockdown is due to end at midnight on Wednesday and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is expected to announce her decision at 16:30 local time (03:30 GMT). She is also expected to reveal whether the remainder of the country steps down a level on the country’s COVID-response scale.

The Auckland lockdown was the first in the country for about six months, after a hard nationwide shutdown early in the pandemic appeared to have largely eliminated local transmission.