At midnight local time of 8th June 2020, the entire New Zealand moved to the lowest level 1 of the four-tier alarm system. According to the new rules, social distance is not necessary, and public meetings are not restricted, but the border is closed to foreigners. In the meanwhile, when the world is recording plenty of new cases each day, New Zealand reported no new case of COVID-19 for more than two weeks. “While we’re in a safer, stronger position, there’s still no easy path back to pre-COVID life, but the determination and focus we have had on our health response will now be vested in our economic rebuild,” Ms Ardern, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. “While the job is not done, there is no denying this is a milestone. So can I finish with a very simple, ‘Thank you, New Zealand’.”
New Zealand closed for the first time on March 25, building a new four-stage alarm system and entering the fourth stage. Most of the business is closed, the school is closed, and people said to stay home. As community cases continued to decline, it moved to Phase 2 in mid-May. The government originally planned for the transfer on June 22, but after 17 days no new incidents were reported. All schools and workplaces can be held under the new rules. Weddings, funerals and public transport can be resumed without restrictions. Social distance is no longer necessary, but encouraged.
The country’s borders are closed to foreign travelers, and the rules remain that New Zealanders arriving from abroad must go through a 14-day quarantine or quarantine period. Ardern warned that the state “will definitely see the case again.” “Removal is a constant effort, not a point in time.” New Zealand has recorded 1,154 cases and 22 deaths identified in COVID-19 since the virus arrived in late February, but is widely known for dealing with the crisis. For many, the latest announcement is the cause of the celebration, but you need not be careful. Trucker Patrick Weston in Auckland told the BBC: “We are all so happy that we are finally done with this, but still nervous
