Speaking as New Zealand declares itself free of coronavirus, Director-General of Health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, says that this week anyone crossing the border into New Zealand will be tested twice in a two week period.
There will also be surveillance testing of anyone working at or around the border, he says.
Community based testing will continue, with a focus on anyone with symptoms.
Bloomfield added the country will keep an eye on whether mask-use will needed, but at the moment, because of the lack of community transmission, the government does not recommend the use of masks generally.
Hours after New Zealand’s health officials announced there were no active cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand for the first time since 28 February, Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister, announced that her government would abandon all restrictions except border controls from midnight tonight.
The removal of all domestic restrictions is happening a couple of days sooner than the government initially flagged it might. From tonight, all remaining rules about physical distancing and gathering sizes will end.
“We are ready,” Ardern told reporters at a news conference in Wellington that is ongoing. She praised New Zealanders for having “united in unprecedented ways to crush the virus.”
New Zealand has eliminated transmission of the coronavirus domestically and will lift all containment measures except for border controls, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday, making it one of the first countries to do so.
Public and private events, the retail and hospitality industries and all public transport could resume without social distancing norms still in place across much of the world, she said.
“While the job is not done, there is no denying this is a milestone … Thank you, New Zealand,” Ardern told reporters.
“We are confident we have eliminated transmission of the virus in New Zealand for now, but elimination is not a point in time, it is a sustained effort.”
The South Pacific nation of about five million people is emerging from the pandemic while big economies such as Brazil, Britain, India and the United States grapple with the spreading virus.
This was largely due to 75 days of restrictions including about seven weeks of a strict lockdown in which most businesses were shut and everyone except essential workers had to stay at home.
“Today, 75 days later, we are ready,” Ardern told a news conference, announcing the government would drop social distancing restrictions from midnight on Monday and move to a level 1 national alert from Level 2.
Border controls would remain and everyone entering the country would be tested, she said.
Read more via New Zealand Herald
