New Zealand (NZ) Health Minister Chris Hipkins said in a statement on Thursday that the country looked good on the COVID-19 situation.
“We don’t need zero cases to lift the Auckland lockdown,” he added.
As of Wednesday, New Zealand has registered five new cases and a potential new “mini-cluster” has been identified. There have been three new community cases, one of which is under investigation.
Auckland is on Alert Level 3 until 11:59 p.m. Sunday, when it will move to a tighter Level 2 with a 10-person limit for social gatherings.
The rest of the country is at normal level 2, where there is a limit of 100 people for social gatherings.
Meanwhile, South Korea has reported 441 new cases of the coronavirus, the most daily infections since early March.
The Australian state of Victoria has recorded 130 new infections, with 23 new deaths in the past 24 hours.
Market reaction
The intensifying spread of the virus across Asia keeps investors edgy, while a sense of caution also prevails ahead of the crucial speech by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole Symposium due to be held more late in the day at 1:10 p.m. GMT.
Amid the general weakness of the US dollar, the NZD / USD is trading well above 0.6500 while S&P 500 futures suffer losses close to 3470.