The authorities of New Zealand declared a state of emergency because of the rapidly rising numbers of coronavirus cases, PM Jacinda Ardern said in a statement.

“Today we put in place our country’s second ever State of National Emergency as we fight a global pandemic, save New Zealanders’ lives and prevent the very worst that we’ve seen around the world from happening here,” she said.

“Failure of anyone to play their part in coming days will put the lives of others at risk, and there will be no tolerance for that,” PM added.

The government decided to declare a state of national emergency after the number of cases reached 205.