New Zealand to end COVID-19 lockdown in largest city

WELLINGTON — New Zealand will lift COVID-19 lockdown in its largest city of Auckland and ease restrictions in the rest of the country from midnight on Wednesday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.

Auckland’s nearly 2 million residents were plunged into a snap three-day lockdown on Monday, after a more contagious COVID-19 variant that first emerged in Britain was detected in a family of three.