New Zealand claims first death in six months

New Zealand claimed first death in six months occurred on Saturday, but health officials said there were the signs the outbreak of the extremely contagious Delta variant.

On Friday night, a lady in her 90s died in an Auckland hospital due to underlying health issues that prevented her from receiving a ventilator or intensive care assistance.

She is the 27th person in New Zealand to die with COVID-19, and the first since February 16 of this year.

The woman was a household contact of someone who had tested positive for the virus in Auckland, New Zealand‘s largest city with a population of around 1.7 million people, according to authorities.

Since the first locally transmitted case in six months was discovered in mid-August, New Zealand, a country of five million people, has been fighting a coronavirus outbreak.

Since then, 782 cases of COVID-19 have been reported, mostly in Auckland, where restrictions have continued at their maximum level while the rest of the country has eased.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described the death as “a deeply sad reminder of why the measures we are undertaking right now are so important.”

“Our older New Zealanders and those with underlying health issues are by far the most at risk from the virus, and one of the reasons lockdowns are such an important tool to stop its spread.”

Only 20 new positive cases were confirmed on Saturday, down from a high of 84 last weekend during the most recent outbreak.