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New Zealand is a country worth keeping tabs on, especially now that we’ve entered alert level 1 in South Africa, easing many of the restrictions put in place over the course of the year since the hard lockdown was implemented in March.

Early on, New Zealand, through its own hard lockdown, managed to get COVID-19 under control, and by June, appeared to have beaten it entirely.

Then in August, shortly after celebrating 100 days virus-free, Auckland was thrown back into lockdown as new cases emerged.

According to The Washington Post, that situation is now largely under control and PM Jacinda Ardern has announced that lockdown restrictions will be eased starting Wednesday evening for most of the country (Auckland is still in the naughty corner).

Residents will be allowed to gather in groups of up to 100 people again, everywhere but in Auckland. Wearing masks will be mandatory in the city, especially on trains, ferries, and planes.

Although mask-wearing isn’t enforced in the rest of the country, Ardern has stressed that they should be worn in certain environments, presumably those that involve large concentrations of people.

“Our actions collectively have managed to get the virus under control,” Ardern told reporters on Monday. But, she added, “Auckland needs more time.”

Residents should seek testing “even if it is just a sniffle or a cough,” she said.

However, the country, despite doing better than most of the world, has still felt the economic effects of the pandemic.

BusinessDay reports that New Zealand has been plunged into its “worst recession in decades”.

GDP contracted a seasonally adjusted 12.2% quarter on quarter, its sharpest quarterly contraction on record and largely in line with economists polled by Reuters who had forecast a 12.8% decline. GDP fell 12.4% year on year.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand had forecast a quarterly decline of 14.2% and an annual contraction of 14.4%.

As with the rest of the world, the recession was triggered by a standstill in economic activity during the lockdown.

We have some experience with that here in South Africa.

The fact that New Zealand brought the virus to a standstill, only to have it sneak back in and disrupt things again, is a cautionary tale for anyone who feels like eased lockdown restrictions mean that it’s fine to relax the use of PPE and physical distancing.

[source:washingtonpost&businessday]