After taking some of the earliest and most extreme actions in the fight against COVID-19 of any country, New Zealand has done more than just flatten its curve. The country has almost completely eliminated the virus altogether.
The latest reports show that over the past few days, new cases of the coronavirus disease have been in the single digits for the entire country. That's incredible news for the citizens, as well as Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who many are crediting with country's success because of her swift and thoughtful action in battling COVID-19.
There's been a varied response all over the globe in how leaders have chosen to fight the outbreak. But New Zealand had been in a highly restrictive level 4 lockdown, which Ardern called "the strictest constraints placed on New Zealanders in modern history."
On Tuesday, after about five weeks of adhering to those measures, the government was able to ease the restrictions. Now about 400,000 more New Zealanders have been able to head back to work.
While countries around the world have grappled with how to handle the pandemic outbreak, New Zealand's efforts have really seemed to pay off. In terms of keeping its death rate low, the country has been hugely successful. The country has reported only 19 total deaths and 1,472 confirmed and probable cases, according to Johns Hopkins University. It has had about an 82% recovery rate.
There are many reasons why New Zealand seems to have been so successful. For starters, it's more remote than countries like the US, and it's centrally governed. The total population is only about 5 million. But there's still a lot to praise about how this country combated the illness that is still ravaging many parts of the world.
Globally, there have been over 3 million cases to date. The United States has now seen over a million of those cases, with the number of deaths about 57,000. Worldwide, about 212,000 have perished. Unfortunately, in many places, the numbers don't appear to be slowing down just yet.
New Zealand confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on February 28, which was about a month after the US began seeing cases. It used that opportunity to prepare and to get ahead of the outbreak. Mainly, the country focused on testing and enforcing a strict lockdown. Prime Minister Ardern seemed fiercely determined to keep the country's death rate as low as possible.
Ardern announced on March 14 that anyone entering the country would need to self-isolate for two weeks. Those were relatively tough restrictions, especially considering the country had only six confirmed cases at the time. But the prime minister was looking at the models that showed what would happen if swift action was not taken, and she responded accordingly.
On March 19, Ardern banned foreigners from entering the country. Then, on March 23, she announced that the country was going into lockdown before any deaths at all had occurred.
On Monday, there was only one new confirmed case. Ashley Bloomfield, New Zealand's director general of health, said it's great news that brings a lot of hope. "That does give us confidence that we've achieved our goal of elimination, which never meant zero but it does mean we know where our cases are coming from," he said.
The country is definitely seeing the payoff of that diligence. Not only has its death rate been incredibly low, but many are also able to get back to their lives. Ardern says that about 75% of the country's economy is now operating, as it enters into its level 3 restriction. It's a huge relief, but Ardern says it's not quite time to celebrate yet.
Despite New Zealand's early success, much of the country is still being told to stay put. "There is no widespread undetected community transmission in New Zealand," the prime minister said. "We have won that battle." Still, she reminded New Zealanders that life won't yet return to normal.
"[Level 3] is not and cannot be returned to pre-Covid-19 life," Ardern said Monday. "That day will come, but it is not here yet."
The prime minister definitely seemed to be relying heavily on science to combat the spread of the coronavirus. She also noted that it was important to act so quickly because New Zealand doesn't have the same resources as bigger countries. It doesn't have as many hospitals, hospital beds, or ventilators. Without quick action, the results could have been catastrophic.
Professor Michael Baker of Otago University's Public Health Department praised the leader's actions. "In New Zealand, it has been a wonderful link between good science, and brilliant leadership and the two together are I think … really highly effective," he said.
"I've been really disappointed that countries who have far more, absolutely the top science resources in the world, that is the US and UK, many countries in Europe, have not fared better than countries like New Zealand which has limited resources."
