New Zealand may not be able to get back to zero COVID-19 cases, stated the director general of health, as the nation continues to work towards curbing the highly transmissible Delta variant.

The country had eliminated the coronavirus last year and had been free of the virus, except for a few cases in February, until the latest outbreak of the Delta variant which started in August. Auckland, New Zealand’s biggest city, is still under lockdown with a small number of fresh infections being reported daily. The director general of health, Ashley Bloomfield, stated that though the country may not get to zero cases, it is important to keep detecting any infections and trace, test and isolate people in order to check the spread of the virus in the community… (Reuters, September 22, 2021)