As New Zealand gears up for extended lockdown, Jacinda Ardern has issued a stark warning: "We don't think we have reached the peak of this outbreak, or the edges of it."
"Cases may continue to get worse before they get better," she said at today's 4pm post-Cabinet briefing.
After Delta infections reached 107 with 35 new cases today, Cabinet decided to extend the nationwide Level 4 lockdown until Friday night.
In Auckland, the strict lockdown will be extended until Tuesday evening.
Nearly 8000 people left Auckland in the 48-hour window following Tuesday's snap lockdown, meaning the full picture of Delta's spread isn't clear yet.
Jacinda Ardern said they were still getting to grips with the extent of the outbreak. (Source: Other)
At today's news conference, she held up a heat map showing where contacts were location in the country - many of them outside Auckland.
"There remains a number of unanswered questions," Ardern said. "We have some way to go yet."
"We need more certainty. We don't want to take any risks with Delta."
Yesterday, 35,800 Covid-19 vaccine doses were administrated. Of the total number of vaccines received, more than one million had been fully vaccinated, while another 1.77 million had received just one dose.
Ardern announced last Friday that the entire country would remain at Alert Level 4 until at least Tuesday, August 24 11.59pm - in line with Auckland and the Coromandel. She said this would be reviewed on Monday, August 23.
New Zealand went into Alert Level 4 at 11.59pm on August 17, initially for at least a week for Auckland and the Coromandel and three-days for the rest of the country.
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