New Zealand's Auckland stays in lockdown, officials report Pfizer-linked death

FILE PHOTO: A normally busy road is deserted during a lockdown to curb the spread of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Auckland, New Zealand, August 26, 2021. REUTERS/Fiona Goodall

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday extended a lockdown in Auckland by two weeks, while officials reported the country's first death linked to the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

New Zealand had been largely virus-free for months, barring a small number of cases in February, until an outbreak of the Delta variant imported from Australia prompted Ardern to order a snap nationwide lockdown on Aug. 17.