How New Zealand ‘eliminated’ Covid-19 after weeks of lockdown
CNNWellington, New Zealand CNN — After weeks of lockdown, New Zealand has achieved its ambitious goal of eliminating the coronavirus. “That does give us confidence that we’ve achieved our goal of elimination, which never meant zero but it does mean we know where our cases are coming from,” Ashley Bloomfield, New Zealand’s Director General of Health, said on Monday, adding that there was only one case since April 1 where authorities were still investigating the source of infection. Monday was the final day of almost five weeks of strict level four lockdown measures, which New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described as “the strictest constraints placed on New Zealanders in modern history.” On Tuesday, the country eased into a less restrictive lockdown, with 400,000 more New Zealanders heading back to work and 75% of the country’s economy operating, according to Ardern. Relying on good science The real lesson from New Zealand has been the combination of good science and leadership, Professor Michael Baker, from Otago University’s Public Health Department, said earlier this month. “I’ve been really disappointed that countries who have far more, absolutely the top science resources in the world, that is the US and UK, many countries in Europe, have not fared better than countries like New Zealand which has limited resources.” The future Although New Zealand is currently being seen as a success story of the coronavirus crisis, it also shows that gains in the fight against Covid-19 doesn’t mean a return to life as normal.