New Zealand: Gov't Lifts Lockdown Due to No New COVID Cases

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern Sunday announced the easing of the COVID-19 quarantine after health authorities stated there are no active coronavirus cases on national territory.

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“Today, there are no active cases in New Zealand. We have tested almost 40,000 people for COVID-19 in the past 17 days, and none has tested positive. We have had no one in the hospital for COVID-19 for 12 days. It has been 40 days since the last case of community transmission, 22 days since that person finished their self-isolation. And so, today, I can announce that Cabinet has agreed we will now move to level 1 to get our economy fully open again, and we will start almost immediately,” Arden stated in a press brief in Wellington.

The premier announced that New Zealanders would be able to hold public and private events without limitations, such as weddings, functions, and funerals. Small businesses would fully reopen, also, domestic traveling would resume. 

 Despite the optimism, New Zealand’s government stressed that borders will remain under strict closure, to avoid imported cases.  

“We almost certainly see cases here again. That is not a sign that we have failed; it is a reality of this virus,” she warned.

Arden acknowledged citizenship collective sacrifice and work for a common goal. The Mrime Minister also stated nationals have movement and action freedom but must keep a location record and scan when required in monitoring points.

“While we are in a safer, stronger position, there is still no easy path back to pre-COVID life, but the determination and focus we have had on our health response will now be vested in our economic rebuild,” Arden concluded.