New Zealand prepares to lift strict lockdown after ‘eliminating’ coronavirus
4302 Mins Read
New Zealand is preparing to move out of the strictest lockdown measures in the country’s history as the government reported only one new confirmed case of Covid-19 and said it had eliminated the virus.
At 11.59pm on Monday, New Zealand will lift its level-4 lockdown which has been in place for more than four weeks. During that time, almost all businesses have been closed, along with schools while the population has been asked to remain in their homes for all but supermarket visits and short walks.
At a press conference on Monday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in level-3 there were new risks – namely people coming into more contact with others.
Level 3 will see retailers, restaurants and schools allowed to reopen on a smaller scale. Schools will reopen on Wednesday for children up to Year 10 who cannot study from home, or whose parents need to return to work.
Workers will also be able to resume on-site work, provided they have a Covid-19 control plan in place, with appropriate health and safety and physical distancing measures. It is expected one million New Zealanders will return to work on Tuesday.
However, Ardern warned the public of bringing too many people into expanded family “bubbles”.
“We are opening up the economy, but we’re not opening up people’s social lives,” Ardern said.
The director general of health, Ashley Bloomfield, said that the virus had been “eliminated”. This did not mean zero cases, but that health officials knew where all new cases were coming from.
Ardern was also optimistic – asked if New Zealand had eliminated Covid-19, she replied “currently”.
New Zealand’s transmission rate – the number of people each infected person can pass the virus to – was now under 0.4, compared to the average overseas transmission rate of 2.5.
