New Zealand Has No Community Spread for 100 Days!

This is the second time that the beautiful island has achieved a significant stretch with no new cases. Many places saw their cases decline last summer, leading plenty of people to believe that the pandemic was done and over with. Perhaps no place had better reason to believe that than New Zealand, who reached 102 days “community-transmission free” last August. Yet, when a mysterious outbreak in south Auckland broke their impressive streak, the government in NZ did not behave as though the worst was over and they put a swift and severe lock-down on the city for three days. Now, nine months later, they’re set to break that record soon!

It is really exciting that they’ve managed to do this again, proving that it is absolutely possible. Importantly, though, this streak does not mean that there are no current cases of COVID-19 in New Zealand. It means that when folks come in from other places, they must be tested and they must quarantine. This is how New Zealand is catching cases before they spread out among the rest of the community. At the moment, New Zealand has 22 active cases, all those affected are in “managed isolation.”

In other related good news for New Zealand, their vaccine roll-out is going really well and right on schedule. In light of this, Prime Minister Ardern has announced that she will get her vaccine this month! She waited so long because she wanted to ensure that the general population was able to be vaccinated first. Now that she’s secured a further 1 million Pfizer vaccines, I’d imagine it’s a perfect time for her to get the jab!

Have you already been vaccinated? Do you think other countries will soon follow suit with elimination of community spread? What do you think New Zealand is getting right? We’d love to hear your thoughts; please let us know!