The country is claiming the virus has reached a manageable point.
This morning, New Zealand announced that they are officially loosening their pandemic restrictions from level four to level three. The cause for this easing is the new report of COVID-19 statistics, one of best seen in the world recently. According to the New Zealand government, the country has seen only one new case, four “probable cases,” indicating cases currently unconfirmed but showing likely symptoms, and one death. These remarkably small numbers indicate that the country has successfully contained the coronavirus to the point where any remaining cases can be safely monitored and dealt with.
According to Ashley Bloomfield, New Zealand’s Director General of Health, the low report “does give us confidence that we’ve achieved our goal of elimination, which — that never meant zero but it does mean we know where our cases are coming from.” He went on to explain that “elimination” in this case “doesn’t mean eradication but it means we get down to a small number of cases so that we are able to stamp out any cases and any outbreak that might come out.”
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is optimistic about the country’s current standing, calling the single-digit report “incredible,” though she also took time to offer condolences for those who have lost friends and loved ones to the disease. She also stressed that while the report is outstanding, the country cannot drop its guard just yet. “So as we have said elimination means we may well reach zero but we may well then have small numbers of cases coming up again, that doesn’t mean we have failed, it just means that we are in the position to have that zero tolerance approach to have a very aggressive management of those cases and keep those numbers low and fading out again,” she said.
Under level three restrictions, businesses will be able to reopen, citizens can buy takeout, and even engage in certain activities like swimming and small gatherings. Social distancing measures will still be required, however.
