Member-only story
New Zealand’s Rapid Response to New Cases Is What Pandemic Leadership Looks Like
Auckland is under strict restrictions after four new cases of Covid-19 popped up
On Tuesday, New Zealand confirmed four new coronavirus cases — its first since May 1. That means there were 102 days during which there was no community spread of Covid-19 in the island nation. Within the same period of time, the United States reached record high numbers of new cases. Today the U.S. recorded 48,690.
It’s obvious from the rapid way New Zealand responded to the new cases how the country managed to keep its numbers so low for so long. The night the cases were confirmed, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced in a public address that the city of Auckland, where the new cases were discovered, would be put under Level 3 restrictions on Wednesday. The rest of the country would move to Level 2 lockdown.
In March, New Zealand established a four-level “alert system” of restriction measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus, with Level 4 consisting of full lockdown. The levels reflect the likelihood that the disease is not contained.
