New Zealand to roll back social distancing restrictions

New Zealand will lift social distancing restrictions across the country from Thursday, officials have announced.

Auckland will reduce restrictions to Level Two, its second-lowest level, while the rest of the country will be reduced to Level One. 

The Wednesday announcement comes as testing uncovered three new Covid-19 cases – including two locally transmitted infections, linked to a family cluster in Auckland.

A mother, father and daughter from the same household tested positive for the virus, authorities announced Sunday.

Restrictions were increased Sunday in a snap lockdown following the discovery of a cluster of cases of the UK variant.

New Zealand has recorded a total of 1,984 confirmed cases, 49 of which are still active.