'Go hard, go early' – now New Zealand goes back to the drawing board

City of Auckland is under coronavirus lockdown - and ahead of election the government is being criticised over border control, quarantine and testing

When scientists in Auckland began modelling an outbreak of Covid-19 in the city's densely populated southern regions - situated right by the country's only international airport - they hoped they were participating in a drill scenario.

This is exactly the type of outbreak we were worried about, and in fact it's exactly what happened," said Professor Shaun Hendy, who works modelling the progression of the disease for the government.