Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at a May 27 press conference in Wellington, New Zealand. Hagen Hopkins / Getty Images
New Zealand reached a milestone in her battle against the corona virus today; for the first time since the pandemic caused total lockdown, no hospital patient was treated for Covid-19.
“At the moment, no one is in the hospital with Covid-19 after someone’s discharge from Middlemore Hospital,” Dr. Ashley Bloomfield,Director General of Health, at the press conference today. “We have a number of people in the hospital – never in large numbers, but I think this is the first time in a few months we don’t have someone in the hospital. That’s another good position to enter.”
There are still 21 active cases, but they are not hospitalized at the moment, he said.
There were no new deaths reported today, and no new cases for the fifth day in a row, he said.
The country now has 1,504 cases and 21 deaths, according to calculations by Johns Hopkins University.
New Zealand timeline: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern first announced on March 14 that incoming travelers needed to isolate themselves for two weeks. At that time, this country had six cases.
When, on March 19, Ardern banned foreigners from entering the country, there were 28 confirmed cases.
And on March 23, when Ardern announced that the country would be fully locked, there were 102 confirmed cases – and no deaths.
Difficult steps seem to have paid off: The country can relax restrictions starting May 14, gradually reopening business and public space.
People can now go back to bars, exercise in the park, and go back to school.
But Bloomfield warns residents today to continue to take precautions such as maintaining social distance if possible. The country remains in Level 2 Warning, which indicates the disease is contained but there is still a risk of transmission from the community.
