AUCKLAND -- New Zealand has flattened the curve of novel coronavirus cases after two weeks of lockdown and the next phase is to "squash it," Professor Shaun Hendy, who heads a body advising the government on COVID-19, told Axios.
Why it matters: The country imposed 14 days ago some of the toughest restrictions in the world in response to the pandemic, despite confirming only 102 cases and no deaths at the time.
- Under the alert level 4 restrictions, schools and non-essential businesses closed — including food delivery services. Only essential travel is permitted and water activities are not allowed.
- People must remain at home unless they are exercising outdoors — but they have to stick to their own neighborhood and only interact with those in their household "bubble," keeping at least 6.5 feet from others.
How enforcement works: A New Zealand Police spokesperson told Axios that 367 Covid-19 breaches had been recorded, including 45 prosecutions, as of Wednesday. People have been arrested for offenses like obstruction of a person assisting a medical officer, or being in breach of the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act.
What they're saying: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told a briefing Wednesday she's "cautiously optimistic that we are starting to turn a corner," as she announced New Zealand's another 50 new cases — the lowest daily coronavirus cases total in two weeks amid a surge in testing. The country has now recorded 1,210 infections and one death.
- Hendy, director of Te Pūnaha Matatini, a Centre of Research Excellence hosted by the University of Auckland which has been working on suppression and mitigation strategies for COVID-19, noted there had been a "flattening off" of cases in the past week.
- "We haven’t seen any further growth," he said."We had that big rise in numbers, mostly driven by people coming back from overseas and we seem to have managed to have contained that growth."
What's next: If the virus is found to be contained, New Zealand is expected to drop to alert level 3, which the country only previously experienced for two days before moving to full restrictions.
- Ashley Bloomfield, director-general, told a briefing Monday this would involve "more widespread activity happening with more people back at work, but maintaining those strict things around physical separation, hand hygiene, and so on, to prevent infection."
The big picture: Ardern acted decisively early on. New Zealand had six confirmed cases when she announced on March 14 a ban on foreigners entering the country, saying: "We must go hard and we must go early." But the response has been bipartisan, with Opposition Leader Simon Bridges offering his support to the government.
- Ardern has been widely praised for her leadership during the coronavirus crisis, reassuring children at a news conference this week that the tooth fairy and Easter bunny are essential workers.
- She also encouraged people to "draw an Easter egg and pop it into your front window and help children in your neighborhood with their own Easter egg hunt because the Easter Bunny might not get everywhere this year."
This is a message for the kids of New Zealand. I’ve been asked by lots of you whether the Tooth Fairy and the Easter...
Posted by Jacinda Ardern on Monday, April 6, 2020
