Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday chose to delay New Zealand's national elections by four weeks as the country deals

Wellington: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday chose to delay New Zealand's national elections by four weeks as the country deals with a new coronavirus outbreak in its largest city, Auckland.

The election had been scheduled for Sept 19 but will now be held on Oct 17. Under New Zealand law, Ardern had the option of delaying the election for up to about two months.

Jacinda AdernOpposition parties had been requesting a delay after a virus outbreak in Auckland last week prompted the government to put the city into a two-week lockdown and halted election campaigning.

Before the latest outbreak, New Zealand had gone 102 days without any known community transmission of the virus, and life had returned to normal for most people, who were going to restaurants, sports stadiums and schools without fear of getting infected.

Coronavirus

The only known cases during that time were returning travellers who were quarantined at the border.

Officials believe the virus was reintroduced to New Zealand from abroad but haven't yet been able to figure out how it happened. The Auckland outbreak has grown to 49 infections, with authorities saying they believe the cases are all connected, giving them hope the virus isn't spreading beyond the cluster.