Even with single digit increases for the past week, New Zealand is not taking its foot off the pedal.

As the global numbers for coronavirus positive cases hit the 3 million mark, New Zealand has managed to pull off the improbable by putting a stop to the the community transmission of the Covid-19 virus, pretty much eliminating it from the country in the process.

The kiwi nation has seen a single digit rise in cases for the past seven days, bringing it’s total to 1469 positive cases, with 19 deaths and a whopping 1180 recoveries. That’s a recovery rate of just over 80% and it’s come to a point where even Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said the virus was “currently” eliminated.

“We are opening up the economy, but we’re not opening up people’s social lives,”

Jacinda Ardern

That being said, officials are still warning against complacency, reiterating that they’ve not seen the last of the coronavirus in the country. So how exactly did New Zealand manage to get the pandemic under control?

While New Zealand certainly wasn’t the first country to implement a lockdown, you can argue that its government did a good job in reiterating the importance and seriousness of it. The Prime Minister took a 20% pay cut and when its health minister was caught violating lockdown restrictions, he was swiftly demoted from his position and made an example of.

On top of that, the Kiwi mentality to the lockdown seems to be rather matured. As of the 12th of April, only 677 people have been caught breaching the lockdown across the nation, which pales in comparison to the numbers we have in Malaysia.

Of course, there’s also the fact that New Zealand’s remote location and easily sealable borders played in its favour when the virus broke out. There is so much that can be learnt from country’s outstanding job at handling the pandemic, and we should all keep an eye on what the country decides to do moving forward, as it may be used as a guide for when cases plateau in other countries worldwide.

For now, the nation is still under some levels of restriction, with some non-essential businesses, healthcare and education activities allowed to resume. People are generally still required to remain at home at all times and avoid all social interactions.

Government officials have warned that “elimination” did not mean there would be no new cases “but it does mean we know where our cases are coming from”, while Ms Ardern herself said there was “no widespread undetected community transmission in New Zealand”, and that “We have won that battle,” she reiterated that the country “must remain vigilant if we are to keep it that way”.