COVID-19 update

At press time, active COVID-19 infections had been confirmed in 192 countries and territories, with more than 219.2 million cases and, resulting from those, more than 4.6 million deaths.

For the first time since the start of the pandemic, New Zealand reached triple digits in daily new infections in August, leading to a countrywide lockdown to try to prevent the spread of COVID. All of the new infections were identified as having been caused by the Delta variant.

Countries are increasingly requiring proof of vaccination against COVID or a recent negative test for anyone wanting to enter an indoor space such as a restaurant, theater or museum. According to the World Health Organization, about 2.1 billion people in the world have been fully vaccinated, slightly more than a quarter of the population.