New Zealand's Jacinda Ardern postpones election after virus resurgence

New Zealand's Jacinda Ardern postpones election after virus resurgence

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday postponed the general election for four weeks until October 17.

"Ultimately, the 17th of October ... provides sufficient time for parties to plan around the range of circumstances we will be campaigning under," PM said in a news conference.

Ardern was under pressure from political opponents and allies to move the original vote on September 19 after Auckland was discovered last week in the shock of COVID-19, which sent the country's largest city into lockdown.

She said the return of the virus without community transmission 102 days later had shaken the Kiwis and could have discouraged some from voting in the September elections.

"I have absolutely no intention at all to change from this point," she said.

"This decision gives all parties time over the next nine weeks to campaign and the Electoral Commission enough time to ensure an election can go ahead."

The virus was first detected in four people in Auckland early last week and by Monday, 58 people had been confirmed in the cluster, five of whom were in hospital.

An earlier success has helped raise Adren's personal popularity rating to 60 percent, as well as his leadership during last year's Christchurch mosque attacks and the White Island volcanic eruption.

The main opposition National Party last week called for the election to be postponed until the end of November, or preferably next year, saying September 19 was untenable.

But co-leader James Shaw accused some parties of showing "naked political self-interests" by demanding a delay, saying they hoped the economic impact of the pandemic would affect the government's popularity in the meantime.

"We have been incredibly disappointed to see the National and other small parties continue to use the weekend to bang on about what would suit them best politically," he said.

"There's no evidence of transmission by food or food packaging to date," national health director-general Ashley Bloomfield said, adding that some form of human-to-human infection was still considered the most likely source of the outbreak.