Covid outbreak in New Zealand as country thrown into lockdown for first time in 6 months

After New Zealand was plunged back into lockdown Covid cases in the country have spiked to 21, with the origin of the outbreak confirmed.

Official figures revealed the number of confirmed cases had jumped on Thursday as authorities said the virus may not have been in the community for long.

The origin of the Covid cluster was said to have been a returnee from Sydney. It is the first outbreak in six months.

The country went back into a national lockdown on Tuesday night after the single case was reported in Auckland.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Health Chief Ashley Bloomfield told a news conference 11 new cases had been reported over the past day.

She said genome sequencing revealed the current positive cases were a close match to a returnee from Sydney who arrived on a flight on August 7.

The outbreak origin is believed to be a passenger returning from Sydney ( REUTERS)

The person tested positive to for Covid two days later and was moved to a quarantine facility before being moved to a hospital on August 16.

"This is a significant development. It means now we can be fairly certain how and when the virus entered the country," she said.

"And based on timelines there are minimal, possibly one or maybe two, missing links between this returnee and cases in our current outbreak.

"And the period in which cases were in the community were relatively short."

New Zealand had been virus-free and living without curbs until the order came for a snap three-day nationwide lockdown on Tuesday.

It came after a new case was identified in the largest city Auckland.

The new cases, though still relatively small in number, have caused significant concern for authorities in the nation, which has struggled to get its population vaccinated.

On Wednesday, New Zealand's central bank delayed a widely expected interest rates hike, citing increased economic uncertainty caused by the outbreak and new lockdowns.

The PM warned that without nationwide curbs, New Zealand could see the chaos seen in neighbouring Australia, where the fast-spreading Delta variant has thrown half the country into lockdown.

Just over 20 per cent of the 5-million population are fully inoculated against Covid so far.

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