Today New Zealand went into National Lockdown for the second time during the Covid-19 pandemic which started 18 months ago. This was prompted by the detection of a Covid-19 case in the community, the first one since February this year when three community transmission cases were reported in Auckland, resulting in a regional lockdown. A few cases have always been common in managed isolation facilities for incoming travelers but very few community cases have occurred.
On 17 August, the Ministry of Health announced one new community case in Auckland, a person who had also recently visited the Coromandel Peninsula. Expecting that this would be the result of the highly infectious Delta variant that has recently been a problem in Australia, the Government moved the country into lockdown – Alert Level Four – effective from 11.59pm on 17 August 2021. Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula will remain on lockdown for at least seven days while the rest of the country will initially undergo a three-day lockdown. By the end of the first day of lockdown, it has been confirmed that the new case carries a Delta variant originating from New South Wales, and a further nine cases have been identified. A large hospital, a high school, a church and a casino are all places that are likely to have been exposed. The first National Lockdown lasted 33 days. The country faces a significant challenge to eliminate the Delta variant in the community.
To mark the passing days of Alert Level Four, I will highlight a polished stone each day, as I did during the first National Lockdown in March/April 2020 (see here for the Stones of the First Lockdown). Stone-of-the Day today, Day One, comes from Gemstone Beach in Southland, recently out of the tumbler but probably collected sometime in the second half of 2020:
It has a highly unusual wavy pattern either side of a wide band of white quartz.
A thin flat stone, it has polished very well, although there are some tiny holes in the central quartz band. I am unable to identify what type of rock it is from.
Stone of the Day #2 is here.
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