[imagesource: AP Photo/Nick Perry]

UPDATE: Well, that didn’t last too long.

According to the New Zealand Herald, Jacinda Ardern has confirmed that Auckland will now go into lockdown.

It comes after four cases of community transmission were confirmed – after 102 days without any.

As of noon tomorrow, Auckland will move to level 3 for three days until midnight on Friday.

The rest of the country will move to alert level 2 at midday tomorrow – until midnight on Friday.

Read more, here.

Here’s the story as it originally appeared…

I reckon most of the world is looking at New Zealand right now, and wishing we could all borrow PM Jacinda Ardern for a while to help us deal with the pandemic.

Under her leadership, New Zealand quickly not only contained the spread of the virus, but announced in June that the country was virus-free.

They spoke a little too soon, and a case was recorded shortly after, but it was dealt with efficiently.

The country is now reporting 1 570 cases, 22 deaths and 1 526 recoveries, which means that there are only 44 active infections, all of which are being managed in isolation facilities, and all of which came from abroad.

In total, with a population of five million, New Zealand has only recorded 22 deaths, and has gone a full 100 days without a community COVID-19 transmission.

Those are enviable stats in the grand scheme of things.

CNN goes into how they did it, starting with the fact that despite having it largely under control, they have continued to test thousands of people a day.

“We have seen overseas how quickly the virus can reemerge and spread in places where it was previously under control,” Director-General of Health Dr. Ashley Bloomfield said Sunday.

“We need to be prepared to quickly stamp out any future cases in New Zealand. Don’t let the team down — none of us can afford to do that.”

When the virus first took hold, New Zealand’s strategy was a simple one. In the words of Ardern, “go hard, and go early”.

She closed the borders on March 9, when the country only had 28 confirmed cases, and then announced a national lockdown just 14 days later, following 102 active cases and no deaths.

The lockdown was strict, and in some ways similar to ours – no driving outside of one’s neighbourhood, no takeaways, and no access to beaches. The strict rules were in effect for roughly five weeks, then extended for a further two weeks.

“Elimination does not mean eradicating the virus permanently from New Zealand; rather it is being confident we have eliminated chains of transmission in our community for at least 28 days and can effectively contain any future imported cases from overseas,” according to the Ministry of Health’s website.

Since the lockdown was lifted, the country has almost returned to normal. Their borders are still closed to anyone who doesn’t live in New Zealand. Those entering the country have to spend two weeks in a government-approved facility.

There were also some strategies adopted by the rest of the world, that New Zealand didn’t feel the need to implement.

There are no natural borders, making it easier to control who enters the country. It also has fewer people per square kilometre, making physical distancing more manageable.

The country also didn’t mandate the wearing of masks, but that’s because people under lockdown only really emerged when COVID-19 was almost eradicated.

But just because face masks haven’t been part of New Zealand’s strategy in the past, doesn’t mean that will be the case in the future. The Ministry of Health is recommending that all households prepare for another possible outbreak by stocking up on masks.

They’re also on high alert. Bloomfield is of the opinion that, if the rest of the world is anything to go by, the virus will return, as will the inevitable lockdowns.

This vigilance is the overarching reason why New Zealand has the pandemic under control.

[source:cnn]