PM: Remain vigilant
WELLINGTON: New Zealand could have been staring at 1000 cases of the deadly virus a day if the country had not gone into lockdown when it did, the Government claims.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, fronting her last Covid19 daily update alongside directorgeneral of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield yesterday, warned New Zealanders on the last day of Level 4 lockdown the country had avoided the worst, but needed to remain vigilant to make sure it did not have a second wave of the Covid19 pandemic.
She again reminded the ‘‘team of 5 million’’ that as some headed back to their workplaces today under Level 3 restrictions it was not a time to socialise.
‘‘Level 3 will not be a return to preCovid life,’’she said.
‘‘We must make sure that we do not let the virus run away on us again and cause a new wave of cases and deaths.’’
She said New Zealand had to move slowly and cautiously to bring back the social element.
Ms Ardern said people should pause to digest the country’s low number of confirmed Covid19 deaths.
There was one more death and five new cases of Covid19 in New Zealand yesterday.
It also marked nine days with no new cases in the Southern District Health Board area. It was the eighth day in a row in which the number of new Covid19 cases nationally has been in single digits.
The person who died was a woman in her 90s at St Margaret’s Hospital. She had several underlying health conditions and was the third person in that cluster to die.
She was the 19th person to die from coronavirusrelated causes in New Zealand.
Ms Ardern said despite the comparatively low number of deaths, those lives lost were still a tragedy. She said that without the lockdown there would have been more than 1000 cases a day and this showed why the lockdown was necessary.
‘‘We will never know what would have happened without our Level 4 restrictions but we can look overseas and see that this devastating scenario has played out in many other countries. Through our accumulative actions we have avoided the worse.’’
She said the numbers — including a 0.4% transmission rate — were incredible and were due to the sacrifice every single New Zealander had made.
Ms Ardern said there was strong evidence New Zealand did not have strong community transmission, but hunting down the last few cases was a challenge.
‘‘. . . this is like a needle in a haystack,’’ she said.
New Zealand could process up to 8000 tests a day — one of the highest testing per capita rates in the world.
Ms Ardern again reminded people to remain vigilant and if they were extending their bubbles that it should only be to a few people and they should remain small and exclusive.
People should also maintain social distancing with anyone outside their bubbles. She encouraged people who were unwell to stay home and to get tested for Covid19.
Ms Ardern said if New Zealand needed to remain at Level 3 after two weeks then it would, as she would not risk the gains that had been made. The Cabinet will meet on May 11 to discuss moving from Level 3. — The New Zealand Herald