New Zealand confirms first cases of UK coronavirus variant as Auckland goes into lockdown

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said investigators were trying to trackdown the source of the UK infections

The prime minister of New Zealand confirmed that the coronavirus infections that triggered the country's first lock down in months are the UK variant, raising fears of a setback to the country's previously successful fight against the disease.

Jacinda Ardern said on Monday that no new community cases had been found since New Zealand's largest city was placed into an emergency three-day lockdown on Sunday night, raising hopes that the lockdown would be short.

"We were right to take a cautious approach and focus on safety because we've confirmed it is the UK variant," she told Radio New Zealand.

"This is a highly transmissible and a fast-moving strain, one that requires extra care in order to stamp it out, and this is exactly what our approach entails," she added.

It is the first time the more infectious UK variant has been found in New Zealand, which has achieved one of the lowest infection rates in the world thanks to strict border controls.

Three people - a mother, father and daughter from the same Auckland family - tested positive for coronavirus over the weekend.

The mother works at Auckland's international airport for a company that does laundry for international aircrew.

Initial speculation had focused on the strain escaping from a quarantine hotel, but Mrs Ardern said genome sequencing of the latest case had failed to "link it to any of the cases we've had come through our managed isolation facilities... it tells us it wasn't someone who went from an airline into our managed isolation."

She said investigations tracing the source were focusing on three scenarios, including whether the variant arrived with a transit passenger who stayed airside at the airport, or international aircrew via a uniform cleaned by the laundry company.

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