New Zealand extends lockdown while Australian PM advocates reopening

New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern holds a map of New Zealand during a Covid-19 update press conference in Wellington, New Zealand (Robert Kitchin/AP)

New Zealand’s government said it will extend a strict nationwide lockdown until at least Friday as it tries to extinguish a growing coronavirus outbreak.

The news came as health authorities reported 35 new local infections of the fast-spreading Delta variant, the highest number of daily Covid-19 cases in New Zealand since April last year.