NEW ZEALAND MARKS 100 DAYS SANS COVID-19 COMMUNITY TRANSMISSION

New Zealand has reached 100 days with no known community transmission of COVID-19, health officials said Sunday, August 9, 2020, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported.

Director general of health Ashley Bloomfield said the milestone was worth celebrating, but warned New Zealanders not to be complacent. "We have seen overseas how quickly the virus can re-emerge and spread in places where it was previously under control, and we need to be prepared to quickly stamp out any future cases in New Zealand," he said in a statement. "Every person in the team of five million has a role to play in this."

While there are currently 23 active cases of COVID-19 in the country, all were detected at the border and are in managed isolation facilities. The first known case imported into New Zealand was recorded on February 26, with the last case of community transmission detected on May 1.

The country shut its border to all but residents and citizens on March 19. A nationwide lockdown started on March 25, where almost all businesses were closed, schools were shut and people were told to stay home. Five weeks later, the country began to slowly lift restrictions. Today, only the border remains closed. New Zealand has a total of 1,569 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19, with 22 deaths.