New Zealand streets returning to normalcy: Ardern thanks Kiwi’s

Jacinda Ardern led New Zealand is on the verge of completely eradicating COVID-19 infection

New Zealand in the leadership of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has almost eliminated the COVID-19 infection from the country. It is likely for the country to return to normal life soon apart from the border controls. The Health officials recently announced that the country hasn’t seen any new cases of the novel coronavirus in the last 12 days.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Wednesday said that the New Zealand government could lift the restrictions of social distancing and public gathering soon to return the country to normalcy. However, strict border control will remain in force to stop the new infection reaching New Zealand from foreign countries.

Only 1 active case in New Zealand currently

The country is on the verge of eliminating the virus with no new cases in the last 12 days and just 1 active case. In total, the New Zealand has recorded 1,504 cases and 22 deaths. New Zealand enforced one of the strictest lockdowns across the world with instructions that followed people staying at home and allowing only essential services to operate. The 7-week lockdown ended on 14th May but residual restrictions remained intact in place to limit social interaction in restaurants, public spaces and shops.

New Zealand is currently under Alert Level 2 restrictions but sooner it will move to Alert Level 1. In Alert Level 2, restaurants and shopping malls are open but the gathering is limited to 10 people only and it is mandatory to follow social distancing norms. Alert Level 1 will allow the domestic travel within the country, reopening of schools, colleges and other educational institutes, and there would no restrictions on gathering.

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Strict restrictions worked!

Jacinda Ardern followed an explicit elimination strategy in New Zealand rather than seeking to only suppress transmission of the virus. If the country becomes successful in completely eradicating the virus then it will become the first country to completely eliminate the coronavirus infection amongst those countries who have witnessed COVID-19 cases in sizeable amount. There are only a few countries who can claim the same, mostly the island countries who had very few cases .

The strict measures have affected the economy of New Zealand like any other country but swifter recovery is expected than many other countries. The tourism industry in New Zealand is heavily affected which accounts for a good chunk in the total GDP of the country.

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