The Latest: Most of New Zealand to end virus lockdown

The Latest: Most of New Zealand to end virus lockdown

SeattlePI.com

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WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Most of New Zealand will move out of lockdown Tuesday except for the largest city of Auckland, which will remain in the strictest type of lockdown until at least next week, the government announced Monday.

The nation has been battling an outbreak of the delta variant of the coronavirus since last month. All recent cases have been found in Auckland, including 20 that were found on Monday.

There have been a total of 821 cases found in the outbreak. The government is pursuing an unusual strategy of trying to eliminate the virus entirely.

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MORE ON THE PANDEMIC:

— Two anchors of COVID safety net ending, affecting millions in US

— Volunteers help poorest survive Thailand’s worst COVID surge yet

— Hospitals in crisis in Mississippi, the least-vaccinated US state

— Want to attend Hamilton? Not unless you meet virus protocols

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— Find more AP coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronvirus-vaccine

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

JERUSALEM -- Israel says it will soon reopen its gates to foreign tour groups — even as it battles one of the world’s highest rates of coronavirus infections.

The country’s Tourism Ministry on Sunday said it will begin allowing organized tour groups into the country beginning Sept. 19.

Tourists will have to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, present a negative PCR test before their flight and undergo both PCR and serological testing upon arrival. Visitors would have to quarantine in their hotels until the test results come back -- a process expected to take no more than 24...

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