New Zealand has announced to life Auckland’s seven-day lockdown on Sunday morning as no new cases of coronavirus were reported on Friday.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that Auckland would go from alert level three to level two at 6 am on Sunday, while the rest of the country would move down to level one.

She added that the government was right to impose the lockdown due to the more transmissible and unpredictable nature of the new coronavirus variant. She added, “Level three provided us with an extra layer of security while we addressed the unknowns and reduced the risk.”

During a post-cabinet media briefing on Friday, she said that she supported New Zealand’s decision to pursue the elimination strategy. But she also acknowledged that that decision brought its own costs.

“Covid has taken a toll on so many in so many ways – but it will get better.

“We may not be in the devastating position that much of the rest of the world finds itself in, but an elimination strategy can feel like hard work and it is completely natural to feel fatigued,” she further said.

“Covid is hard work for everyone. Thank you for pushing through once again.”

Ardern was asked if the government had mismanaged the communication during lockdowns. She replied that she believed that the expectations of New Zealanders were “by and large very well understood”.

She also quoted that she did not believe anyone who broke level-three restrictions deliberately did it. But she mentioned that she had not seen any benefit in continuing a “back-and-forth” over individual cases over this past week.

“By and large the country has done exceptionally well – but we’ve never had an experience that’s been perfect.”