As countries around the world continue to grapple with Covid-19, scientists expect to be able to declare next week that New Zealand is virus-free.
An anonymous woman in Auckland was the last confirmed case in the country, which has suffered 22 deaths with thousands also losing their jobs as a result of the economic impact of the disease.
Providing there are no new and unexpected cases to marr the country’s 14-day streak of zero fresh instances of Covid-19, scientists say they expect to be able to declare next week that the virus has been eliminated from New Zealand – making it the first country among the OECD group of wealthy nations, and the first country that has recorded more than 100 cases to make such a statement, analysts said.”
The last person known to have contracted the virus domestically from an unknown source was diagnosed on 29 April and they remained in quarantine until 18 May, according to data provided to the Guardian by the Ministry of Health.
The health ministry says elimination of Covid-19 could be declared 28 days after the last confirmed domestic case of the illness had left quarantine – meaning it would be on 15 June.
Nick Wilson, a public health specialist from the University of Otago, described the data as “pretty reassuring”, adding: “According to our model that would put us nearly at the 99% probability of elimination.”
Shaun Hendy, a scientist at the University of Auckland, who was involved in a study used by New Zealand’s health ministry that predicted tens of thousands of deaths if the virus was not contained, added: “There’s a very high chance that we’ve eliminated the disease domestically and there’s so few parts of the world that have the options and choices we do.”
But elimination is “an ongoing process”, New Zealand’s director general of health, Ashley Bloomfield, cautioned on Wednesday.
