New Zealand enters snap lockdown as Delta emerges

All of New Zealand will start a snap three-day lockdown from 11.59pm local time (11.59am GMT) today, following a positive case in the community of the more infectious Delta variant of Covid-19.

Auckland, the country's largest city by population, and the nearby Coromandel peninsula will be in lockdown for seven days because of the travel history of the infected case. New Zealand has largely escaped the impact of Covid-19 but its pace of vaccinations has lagged behind most developed nations and has relied on border closures to keep the coronavirus out.

The government only last week outlined plans to tentatively reopen its borders to international air travel from next early next year, depending on its domestic Covid-19 vaccination rate.

Closure of its borders has weighed heavily on the country's jet fuel demand. New Zealand's jet fuel consumption remained at subdued levels during January-March, according to government data, because of its extended Covid-19 restrictions on international travel, despite increased use for domestic flights.

By Richard Davies