New Zealand registered 104 fresh COVID-19 cases on Saturday, including the first community case in the countrys South Island in close to a year, reported health officials.

A majority of the new cases were reported in Auckland, which has been under a strict lockdown for over two months now. Restrictions are less stringent in most of the other parts of the country. The risks of a further spread from the case reported in Blenheim, in the South Island, continued to be low, with the individual probably in the late stage of infection. Initial probe has identified only a few close contacts, who have been contacted and are presently in isolation, with tests arranged, stated the health ministry… (NDTV – Reuters, October 23, 2021)