World
New Zealand PM postpones election as COVID-19 flares up
New Zealand’s prime minister postponed the country’s general election on Monday by a month to October 17 as the city of Auckland remains in lockdown due to a growing coronavirus outbreak.
Jacinda Ardern bowed to pressure to delay the polls after some parties complained they could not campaign with nearly a third of New Zealand’s 5 million people under lockdown in Auckland.
She ruled out delaying the polls any further, as her Labour Party maintains a strong lead over the conservative National Party in opinion polls.
New Zealand on Monday recorded nine new cases of Covid-19, taking the number of active cases to 78. There have now been a total of 1,280 cases in the country, and 22 deaths.
Results are expected later this week.
