(CNN) – Almost all coronavirus restrictions in New Zealand will be lifted tomorrow, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced, after the country reported no active cases.
However, social distance is still encouraged and Ardern said New Zealand’s international borders will remain closed to non-residents to prevent new outbreaks. Residents who arrive in New Zealand must still be quarantined for two weeks.
New Zealand currently has no active corona virus cases, and no positive cases have been reported in the past 17 days. No one has received hospital treatment for Covid-19 for the past 12 days and it has been 40 days since the last case of community transmission.
“Freedom from this restriction depends very much on the ongoing role that our border controls will play in preventing the virus from coming out … The virus will exist in our world for some time to come,” Ardern said at a press conference Monday.
The announcement came when the global number of coronavirus infections was confirmed to exceed 7 million on Monday, according to Calculation of Johns Hopkins University, with more than 402,000 people killed. New Zealand has 1,504 confirmed cases and 22 deaths.
New Zealand lockdown schedule
The first case of coronavirus was confirmed in New Zealand on February 28 – more than a month after the United States confirmed its first infection.
On March 14, when the country had six cases, Ardern announced that whoever entered the country needed to isolate himself for two weeks, which at that time was one of the heaviest boundaries in the world. Foreign nationals are barred from entering the country on March 20.
A few days later, on March 23 – without death and when 102 cases were confirmed – Ardern announced the country was entering “third-level” lockdown. Non-essential businesses are closed, events and meetings are canceled and schools are closed to all children except important workers.
Employers are told to allow work from home if possible, public transportation is provided for important workers, and discretionary domestic air travel between regions is prohibited.
At midnight on March 25, New Zealand moved to the tighter lock on level 4, with people being told not to leave the house except for important exercises near the house, while maintaining social distance.
On April 9, despite the decrease in cases, Ardern tightened border restrictions so that all citizens and permanent residents who arrived in New Zealand were required to spend two weeks quarantined at approved facilities rather than at home.
Travel bubble soaring?
New Zealand and Australia have been in discussions to build a “travel bubble,” which will allow residents to travel freely between neighboring countries without the need for quarantine.
Both countries largely control their local coronavirus outbreaks and have a large tourism industry that is heavily affected by widespread travel restrictions.
However, Ardern warned Monday that such a corridor could still be several months away.
“I don’t want New Zealand businesses or even Kiwis who want to travel across the trench to be given the wrong start. I prefer to share a timeline when we have more certainty,” he said.
“(Australia) is making progress country by country, but it is not universal.”
