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- The Island nation has recorded only one death to the virus
- New Zealand has reported a decline in new cases for four days straight
While the pandemic of COVID-19 continues to rise in nations around the world, New Zealand has only reported one death.
On Thursday, Kenya reported five new coronavirus cases bringing the total number of patients to 184 and seven deaths. Meanwhile, New Zealand reported 29 new confirmed and probable cases, bringing the country’s total to 1,239. Of these cases, there has been only one death, 14 patients in hospital and 317 have fully recovered.
Measures in New Zealand
The small island country, with a population under 5 million, imposed a month-long lockdown. The aim is to not only contain the virus but also eliminate it.
New Zealand confirmed its first case of coronavirus on February 28. A month later, on March 29, it would announce it’s first (and only) death.
Since March 20, the country imposed a ban on all visits to the country barring foreign nationals from entering the country.
While other nations have been lifting restrictions previously imposed, the nation’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that they would be tightening border restrictions.
“At the halfway mark, I have no hesitation in saying that what New Zealanders have done over the last two weeks is huge,” Ardern said at a press conference Thursday that the Kiwis listened to live.
By being an island, New Zealand has carried an added advantage over most other countries – a distinct advantage that has helped them contain the virus.
The nation has also enjoyed an edge in health care management. To date, they have carried out 51,165 tests – that has helped the nation identify potential cases.
Leadership
PM Ardern has shown decisiveness in the management of the virus, demoting the country’s health minister after he took his family to the beach, during the lockdown, for a walk. The PM has also maintained constant communication with the public, including a podcast live on Facebook she took in her house dressed in a sweatshirt.
While UK PM had warned citizens that they should prepare to lose loved ones before their time, the New Zealandan counterpart has been categorical in emphasizing her government’s commitment of protecting the lives of the people of New Zealand ahead of ‘protecting the country’s economy.
When Ardern announced on March 14 that anyone entering the country would need to self-isolate for two weeks, opinion leaders felt that this measure was ‘tough and harsh’. At the time, the country had only six cases.
On March 19, Ardern banned foreigners from entering the country. The country had 28 confirmed cases at the time.
On March 23, Ardern announced that the country would be going into complete lockdown. There were 102 confirmed cases with zero deaths.
These moves were all enforced with one reason behind – New Zealand does not have a lot of intensive care beds to handle huge numbers of infected people.
Future plans
The PM has said that she has no plans of lifting the lockdown.
Her main objective remains to ‘stamp’ the coronavirus out of the country. Her secondary plan being preparation of the health system to handle larger numbers of severely ill patients.
