New Zealand has today recorded zero active COVID-19 cases in the whole country, which is huge news from the nation which has been a world-leader in controlling the pandemic.
The last recorded case, an 48-year-old Auckland woman, has recovered after displaying no symptoms for 48 hours.
“This is really good news for the person concerned, and it’s also something the rest of New Zealand can take heart from,” New Zealand’s Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said in a statement.
“Having no active cases for the first time since February 28 is certainly a significant mark in our journey but as we’ve previously said, ongoing vigilance against COVID-19 will continue to be essential.”
It’s been 17 days – more than two weeks – since the last new case was recorded in the country.
However, this doesn’t mean the country is coronavirus-free just yet, because there’s always the possibility there are undetected cases out there.
Today we can announce that there are now no active cases of COVID-19 in New Zealand! Read our full update at https://t.co/YYbSSBzUJC pic.twitter.com/GEMQ1QghgA
— Ministry of Health – Manatū Hauora (@minhealthnz) June 8, 2020
Bloomfield will meet with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern later today to discuss further easing lockdown restrictions.
“It is a real achievement that New Zealand may shortly be moving to level one and removing the remaining physical distancing restrictions,” Michael Baker, professor in public health at the University of Otago said.
“This event, when it happens, is a statement that we have achieved the goal of eliminating the COVID-19 virus from this country.
“This is, however, only the first battle in what will be a long-term war against this virus.”
Senior research fellow at the University of Otago’s Department of Public Health Amanda Kvalsvig agreed, saying we’ll have to wait and see if any new cases pop up as testing continues.
“Having no active cases isn’t really a meaningful landmark for pandemic control,” she added.
To that end, the Ministry of Health is urging anyone with respiratory symptoms to get checked for COVID-19. So far, almost 300,000 Kiwis have been tested.
