Jacinda Ardern, head of the New Zealand government, during the health crisis. – Marty MELVILLE / AFP
If in some corners of the world the epidemic of coronavirus continues to wreak havoc,
New Zealand the last infected patient in isolation is recovered. This is what the Prime Minister of the country announced,
Jacinda Ardern.
This Monday, the head of government announced the lifting of all national restrictions which had been decreed to fight against the pandemic.
Today, New Zealand officially has zero active COVID-19 cases ????
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that, thanks to the hard work of our team of 5 million, we will move into Alert Level 1 from midnight tonight. pic.twitter.com/IHYdnn1o2y
– New Zealand Labor (@nzlabour) June 8, 2020
If border controls remain in effect, social distancing measures and restrictions on the number of people who can gather are no longer necessary, explained Jacinda Ardern. “We are confident that we have eradicated the transmission of the virus in New Zealand so far,” she said in a televised speech.
The South Pacific archipelago, which has a population of five million, has recorded 1,154 confirmed cases and 22 deaths. For the past 17 days, no new contamination has been identified.
Ashley Bloomfield getting a bit emotional today. I don’t think we can truly appreciate the pressure this man faced and the hard decisions that were made. He has tried to shine any spotlight on the fantastic people in our public service and he deserves every bit of congratulations pic.twitter.com/C9pKsC8Oro
– Aimee (@Kiwi_things) June 8, 2020
“The fact that we have no active cases for the first time since February 28 is certainly an important milestone in our journey but, as we have said before, it will be essential to maintain vigilance against the Covid-19”, said the director general of the Ministry of Health, Ashley Bloomfield.
After imposing a strict confinement of seven weeks lifted in May, the health alert has just been reduced to level 1, on a scale which has 4. Theaters and nightclubs will therefore be able to reopen without any restrictions. And in the land of kiwis, rugby will be able to regain its rights.
Blacks are back
Sports events will no longer be obliged to be held behind closed doors, a major development for the local federation of rugby, which will allow its “Super Rugby Aotearoa” competition to start in full stadiums.
NZ Rugby boss Mark Robinson is ‘optimistic’ about @AllBlacks matches in New Zealand in the last quarter of 2020 https://t.co/FNFg5ckKYr
– NZ Sports Wire (@NZSportsWire) June 3, 2020
“We are incredibly proud and grateful to be the first professional sporting competition in the world in a position to allow our teams to play in front of their fans again,” said New Zealand Rugby boss Mark Robinson.
