On Sunday, New Zealand will mark 100 days without community transmission of COVID-19.
From the first known case imported into New Zealand on February 26 to the last case of community transmission detected on May 1, elimination took 65 days.
New Zealand relied on three types of measures to get rid of the virus:
1. ongoing border controls to stop COVID-19 from entering the country.
2. a lockdown and physical distancing to stop community transmission.
3. case-based controls using testing, contact tracing and quarantine.
Collectively, these measures have achieved low case numbers and deaths compared with high-income countries in Europe and North America that pursued a suppression strategy.
yes they are back to normal living now according to my friend in NZ. No masks required. Also she mentioned the nursing homes locked down even before the country did.
Where as UK and other countries are like to be living with it ongoing for a number of years now.
The New Zealand experience of the pandemic is a lesson to us all, Bkin. Their nursing home lockdown must have been vital in this process, so what do new Zealanders posses that we in the UK do not have? That surely must rank high in the lessons to be learned from the British farce. Were it not so tragic one might call it a Whitehall Farce.
They had more time before it reached them and understood the dangers better, + they stopped all entry and exit - flights straight away.
They are even now only allowing their own people back into the country who must quarantine in a hotel provided, so there is no one able to sneak out without being caught.
They have a much smaller population and are quite a remote Island, in addition their standard of human behaviour is more intelligent than some of our UKers.
Regarding the Nursing homes. One here in Queensland Australia began using scrubs for their workers. The workers had to change into them when they arrived/ wash hands etc. The scrubs were properly washed at the end of each shift by the home. The day before a Covid positive worker worked a shift, the home added the mandatory wearing of face masks for all workers during a shift. So far no-one has caught the virus from that positive worker. All I can say is "Well Done!"
The worker's case was traced back to three strangers to her who had lied on a form. They had come from a Covid "hotspot" in Australia. Instead they claimed to have come from a different area of Australia. They assumed incorrectly that they couldn't have possibly got it and lied to get in to Queensland without going into quarantine. During the eight days before it was discovered, they travelled over a lot of the city. People had caught it from sitting at another table close to them in a restaurant. We really don't know who is coughing/ breathing on us.
From what I can see, New Zealand have approx 20 people per square kilometre, here in England we have approx 450 so I’m sure that can’t help our situation. I’d rather be in New Zealand that’s for sure. x
Best news ever thank you for your help Iv been on shielding and my holidays to Egypt I take ones a year canceled beginning to think cov will never end you have give me hope x
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