The leadership of New Zealand is not taking any chances.

After the country’s first COVID-19 case in six months, the government has adopted a “go hard, go early” strategy that involves a nationwide lockdown for at least three days.

All schools, businesses, and offices will be closed. Only essential services like pharmacies and grocery stores will remain open. Anyone in a public space must wear a mask.

“The best thing we can do to get out of this as quickly as we can is to go hard,” said New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. “We have seen what can happen elsewhere if we fail to get on top of it. We only get one chance.” 

“Beating Delta means lifting our game,” Ardern added.

Overseas commentators go beserk each time New Zealand goes into a ‘go hard, go early’ lockdown. But they are blind to the fact we’ve eliminated it every time. After the last regional lockdown in Feb 2021, we won ourselves 160 days of Level 1 freedom. We do it because it works.

— Jin Russell (@DrJinRussell) August 18, 2021

An unvaccinated 58-year-old man in Auckland, the nation’s largest city, tested positive for the virus. That region, along with several coastal towns he recently visited, will be in lockdown for an extended period of time – at least seven days.

Authorities are operating under the assumption that the man was infected with the highly transmissible delta variant. Genome sequencing is currently underway.

“We are one of the last countries in the world to have the delta variant in our community,” Ardern said. “We’re in the position to learn from experience overseas, and what actions work, and what actions don’t work.”

The country has recorded just 26 deaths from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, an outcome credited in large part to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's strict prevention measures https://t.co/9eAq2OawIL

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) August 14, 2021

Only 20% of New Zealand’s population has been fully vaccinated.

The extreme caution exhibited in the island nation stands in stark contrast to America’s COVID-19 precautions. While vaccination rates are relatively high in the U.S., many municipalities have stopped short of requiring masks – let alone lockdowns – as the delta variant spreads.