Latest NZ Lockdown Closes Hamilton Casino Temporarily

For a while, it was thought that New Zealand had managed to do what no nation in the world had been able to do – keep the country relatively COVID free. However, in recent months, the government was forced to switch from its policy of elimination of the virus to that of suppression, after scores of new cases of the Delta variant were reported.

As part of this new policy, the government has been moving regions the country up and down an ‘Alert’ scale as cases are pinpointed. As areas climb an Alert Level, the government revises which properties need to close temporarily, in attempts to suppress the spread of the virus.

SkyCity Closes Casinos Across NZ as Virus Spreads

The latest reports from Hamilton are that the New Zealand casino and hospitality group, SkyCity was forced to temporarily close its local property, after a Level 3 alert as issued by the government.

After two new cases of COVID-19 were detected in the Waikato region, which incorporates the Hamilton CBD, the alert was put out.

The virus has been detected in a wastewater sample collected from Wellsford.

In the meantime, SkyCity’s flagship New Zealand property in Auckland remains closed now that the city has moved up an Alert Level.

Yesterday, 65 new community cases of COVID-19 were reported in Auckland and daily case numbers are tipped to hit the hundreds by next week. Experts predict that if the outbreak is not contained soon, we can expect to see up to 150 new cases a day by November.