New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced an extension to the nation’s lockdown

The lockdown in Auckland will be extended by two weeks following a spike in COVID cases linked to the delta variant, with over 53 new cases reported Monday.

New Zealand has been largely virus-free for months, eradicating a small number of cases in February. But following an outbreak of the Delta variant imported from Australia, it prompted Prime Minister Ardern to order a snap nationwide lockdown on August 17.

Infections of the outbreak have reached now 562

Around 1.7 million Aucklanders will remain in strict level 4 lockdown for another two weeks, while restrictions for the remainder of the country will be eased slightly to a level 3.

Ardern’s tough and swift lockdowns, along with closing the international border from March 2020, were credited with reining in COVID-19 in the country.

However, the government now faces questions over a delayed vaccine rollout, as well as rising costs in a country heavily reliant on an immigrant workforce.

Around 21% of the population of 5.1 million people have been fully vaccinated, the slowest pace among the wealthy nations of the OECD grouping.