It was just a couple of days ago that we published a story in praise of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Guiding a country through a pandemic is a high-stress task for any political leader, but Ardern has shown the world how to stay calm with her clear, personable style of leading, which is best exemplified by the informal live Facebook calls she does with citizens from her living room.
Beyond Ardern, all of New Zealand responded rapidly to the spread of COVID-19 and took precautions like closing the borders early on. The result is that New Zealand can now say it has achieved its ambitious goal of eliminating the coronavirus. But the country isn’t celebrating yet. Over the past few days, newly diagnosed infections have been in single digits. And on Monday, New Zealand reported just one new case.
Monday was the final day of almost five weeks of strict level four lockdown measures, which New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described as “the strictest constraints placed on New Zealanders in modern history.” On Tuesday, the country eased into a less restrictive lockdown, with 400,000 more New Zealanders heading back to work and 75% of the country’s economy operating, according to Ardern.
The new level three restrictions also mean that New Zealanders will be able to hold small funerals and buy takeaways. But while New Zealand’s success in eliminating the virus might seem like cause for celebration, Ardern has told citizens “We are not out of the woods yet,” urging them to continue cooperating with the newly relaxed restrictions. For all of us, the takeaway is that there will come a time when lockdown restrictions will be eased—even if it doesn’t always feel like it. In the meantime, we’ll keep bringing you positive updates from around the globe.
