New Zealand lifts Auckland virus limits

Coronavirus restrictions in New Zealand's largest city will be lifted this week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday.

Ryan Brooks reports.

After a resurgence of COVID-19, New Zealand's leader Jacinda Ardern said Monday the country will lift coronavirus restrictions this week.

New Zealand's five million people appeared to have stamped out community transmission of COVID-19 earlier this year following a tough nationwide lockdown.

Then came a second cluster of cases in its largest city, Auckland.

Ardern says she's confident that wave has been eliminated.

"As we come together again as a country in Level One we can let ourselves once again feel pride that we managed to get to that position together.

COVID will be with us for many months to come but we should still mark these milestones." The renewed Auckland outbreak was detected in August, and became the biggest the country had seen with 179 linked cases.

The limits being lifted mean that there's no ban on gatherings of more than a hundred people and no physical distancing in bars and restaurants.

Ardern's success in containing the virus compared to elsewhere, including Australia next door, has played a major part in putting her firmly ahead in polls for a general election next week.