Dances and smiles, but threat remains: New Zealand declares itself free of coronavirus

New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern danced in celebration when she learned that Covid-19 had been eliminated in the country after its populace "united in unprecedented ways to crush the virus", she said.

“We currently have no active cases in New Zealand,” Jacinda Ardern said, before announcing her country would remove virus-related restrictions from Monday, 75 days after they were first introduced.

“We united in unprecedented ways to crush the virus,” Ms Ardern said, adding that she celebrated when she heard the news that there were no longer any active cases.

“I did a little dance [with one-year-old daughter Neve]," she said.

"She was caught a little by surprise but she joined in having absolutely no idea why I was dancing around the lounge, but enjoyed it nonetheless.”

The country of five million has reported 22 deaths and 1,504 Covid-19 cases since its first, which was uncovered on February 28.

Modelling predicted a much worse outcome.

“We were projected to have four thousand cases, we had one thousand. One of the lowest rates per capita in the world,” Ms Ardern said.

In total, 40,000 people have been tested for the virus in the last 17 days with no confirmed cases found. Altogether, 300,000 tests have been conducted.

While there are now no restrictions on weddings, nightclubs, domestic travel, shopping, mass gatherings or work, it remains law that anybody arriving in New Zealand will have to isolate in hotels, paid for by the government, for 14 days.

Ms Ardern was hopeful a “trans-Tasman bubble” with Australia could be agreed soon, allowing citizens of both countries to travel without quarantining. However, with Australia still reporting 559 active cases, that would not happen immediately.

The Labour leader, 39, will face an election in September. Her popularity as preferred prime minister has skyrocketed to 65 per cent, compared to her rival, the National Party's Todd Muller, who is on 13 per cent.

Ms Ardern's management of the pandemic is expected to dominate campaign messaging on both sides of the debate. Mr Muller said while Ms Ardern has skillfully communicated with the electorate to stop coronavirus from spreading, the country’s economy has suffered unnecessarily, due to prohibitive restrictions which forced businesses to close at the end of March.

Google calculated the movement of people in New Zealand to be down by 91 per cent Oxford University’s stringency index rated its lockdown restrictions at 96.3, the only nation higher than 90.

Ms Ardern said New Zealand "has both sacrificed and achieved a huge amount in just under 11 weeks as the world continues to reckon with a virus that went from obscurity at the start of the year to a global pandemic”.

After repeatedly telling New Zealanders to "stay safe and stay home" the prime minister said she was now encouraging people to go outside and open their wallets, spending and travelling locally.

Experts warned sustained testing with a high-performing national surveillance system was needed to continue confidence that New Zealand was free of the virus. University of Otago epidemiologist Dr Amanda Kvalsvig said if no further new cases appear despite ongoing testing, that’s “much more informative, and so far the results are encouraging”.

Director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said he smiled widely as data arrived on his desk confirming New Zealand was free of the disease.

“The reason where we are today and maybe have done better than we maybe hoped is because New Zealanders acted together in our collective interests,” Dr Bloomfield said.

While New Zealand had been cautious, it was not "overly cautious", he said.

“We have come down faster and sooner and in a stronger position than any other country.”

While the country itself is free of Covid-19, the threat remains, experts said, because it is understood that borders will eventually need to completely reopen as tourism remains critically important for New Zealand’s economic recovery.

"This risk will rise again in New Zealand as we gradually increase the numbers of incoming travellers,” said University of Otago epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker.

"The threat from Covid-19 obviously remains while this pandemic continues across the globe.”

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