In pics | Aucklanders return to mall as New Zealand eases Covid curbs
Shopping spree
Shoppers walk through a retail district in the wake of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown restrictions being eased in Auckland, New Zealand, November 10, 2021. Despite its success last year in eliminating COVID-19, New Zealand has been struggling to fight off a highly infectious Delta variant this year, forcing Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to move from a strategy of zero cases through lockdowns to living with the virus
Limping back to normalcy
Apart from the 1.7 million Aucklanders, and residents in some neighbouring regions, life for the rest of the population has largely returned to normal domestically although the country`s borders still remain tightly shut.
A cautious start
A public health related sign is posted in a storefront as shoppers return to the Newmarket retail district in the wake of coronavirus disease lockdown restrictions being eased in Auckland, New Zealand, November 10, 2021. While New Zealand has been criticised for a slow start to its vaccination campaign, nearly 80% of the eligible population has now received a second dose.
Protesters demand end of Covid lockdown
Protesters attend a Freedom and Rights Coalition demonstration to demand an end to Covid-19 restrictions and mandatory vaccination outside the Parliament House building in Wellington on November 9, 2021.
Against Covid vaccine mandate
An estimated 2,000 to 3,000 protesters marched through central Wellington carrying signs displaying various anti-Covid vaccine mandate slogans, with many waving campaign flags of former US President Donald Trump. Security personnel closed nearly all entrances to the parliament campus and its iconic “Beehive” building during the demonstrations.
)
)
)
)
)