The health ministry of New Zealand said yesterday that the country has zero COVID-19 patients in the hospital and it has not registered a new case in 6 days.
New Zealand’s response to the pandemic has been praised internationally as it discharges the last patient in Auckland. The country had recorded its first case on February 26, shut its borders by March 19 and implemented a complete lockdown by March 26.
The lockdown could be lifted there within weeks as gatherings of up to 100 people already being allowed and travel to Australia set to resume soon.
The tally, of 1504 infections, has remained steady for almost a week and the number of deaths at 21 has not changed since 6th of May.
New Zealand’s response to the pandemic has been one of the best. In late April, PM Jacinda Ardern said that the country had “won” the fight against the widespread transmission of the virus.
She said that the nation must “hunt down” the remaining cases. She says, “There is no widespread, undetected community transmission in New Zealand. We have won that battle. But we must remain vigilant if we are to keep it that way.”
