Back in June, New Zealand reported no active cases and lifted almost all of its restrictions –no social distancing was required and there were no limits on public gatherings. However, its borders remained closed to foreigners. Today, New Zealand marks 100 days since it got rid of a virus that is multiplying across the world at pandemic speed. But how did this tiny nation achieve this success story?
Today, New Zealand marks100 days without communitytransmission of Covid. Fromthe first known case importedinto New Zealand on February26 to the last case of communitytransmission on May 1, eliminationtook 65 days.During this time, New Zealand reliedon 3 types of measures to get ridof the virus: ongoing border controls,lockdown and physical distancing,case-based controls using testing,contact tracing and quarantine.Collectively, these measuresachieved low case numbers anddeaths compared with high-incomecountries in Europe and NorthAmerica that pursued a suppressionstrategy.Australia too adopted very similarresponses and it is important to notethat most states and territories are inthe same position as New Zealand.But Victoria and, to a lesser extent,New South Wales are seeing a significantresurgence.The key difference is that NewZealand committed relatively earlyto a clearly articulated eliminationstrategy and pursued it aggressively.An intense lockdown proved highlyeffective at rapidly extinguishing thevirus.A key lesson here is that New Zealand’svigorous, decisive response tothe pandemic was highly effective atminimising cases and deaths.The subsequent elimination appearsto have allowed New Zealand toreturn to near-normal operation fairlyrapidly, minimised economic damage.New Zealand’s elimination of Covidhas drawn attention worldwide, andthere’s much for the rest of the worldto learn.
