On Wednesday, New Zealand announced that no new cases of the deadly coronavirus illness were reported in the past five days. During a press briefing, the country’s Ministry of Health gave a update regarding the pandemic, adding that 1,400 of New Zealand’s total 1,504 people with COVID-19 have recovered and only 21 active cases remain. Between January 22 and May 26, more than 260,000 coronavirus tests were administered in the country among 5 million people. This is the first time in months that there hasn’t been a COVID-19 patient in the hospital said Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield.
The flattened curve of COVID-19 cases will lead to lifting in the lockdown measures within weeks, according to officials, who are already allowing gatherings of up to 100 people. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said at a press conference earlier this week “The increase in gathering size shows that we now have some of the most permissive settings of any of the countries we compare ourselves to, including Australia. Going hard with lockdown measures paid off for the economy, and now we need to just continue the level of vigilance that has got us here.”
Dr Bloomfield also mentioned that an app called NZ COVID Tracer is helping officials with contact tracing. Another app called Awhina was launched on Wednesday and it will help medical professionals with updates on the use of personal protective equipment, updated case definition, and other useful information.
The country is now at ‘alert level 2’ of a four levelled system. This will allow schools and businesses to reopen safely. The level 2 of alert will be sustained only for some weeks after which government can think over moving to alert level 1. Also, they will be working with cabinet members in Australia to make a joint decision on international air travel and reopening borders to non-citizens.
Australia and South Korea have also significantly flattened the curve of COVID-19 outbreaks. After observing a drop in numbers, both countries have started to ease restrictions.
