New Zealand will gradually drop its policy of seeking a zero Covid-19 infection rate in the country. The move was “accelerated” by the arrival of the more contagious Delta variant, the country’s prime minister has said.
Since the start of the pandemic, the island nation has been implementing what became unofficially known as the ‘zero-Covid strategy’.
New Zealand tried to entirely stamp out the virus from its territory through vigorous restrictions and surprised observers overseas by going into a snap lockdown in August after discovering just a single locally transmitted case. This approach will now be phased out thanks to growing vaccination rates, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said at a news conference on Monday.
The PM said that, while the previous method of fighting Covid-19 was justified at the time, “the return to zero has been extremely difficult” after the arrival of the more contagious Delta variant of the virus.
“What we have called a long tail has been more like a tentacle that has been difficult to shake,” Ardern said, referring to belief that the outbreak in the capital city of Auckland would slowly recede. She added that the Delta variant has “accelerated” the transition in policies.
It’s clear that a long period of heavy restrictions has not got us to zero cases. But that is OK. Elimination was important because we didn’t have vaccinations. Now we do, so we can begin to change the way we do things.
According to the Health Ministry, 79% of the eligible population has received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 48% are fully vaccinated. The corresponding figures for Auckland residents are 84% and 52%. The PM said this allows for a three-phase easing of restrictions in the capital, starting from Wednesday.
In Phase 1, residents can meet in groups, but only outdoors, with a maximum limit of 10 people from no more than two households at one time. They must keep social distance and wear masks at all times, with the exception of when they are eating and drinking.
Ardern said strict lockdowns will end once 90% of the eligible population is vaccinated.
New Zealand reported 29 new locally transmitted cases on Monday. Overall, the country has had nearly 4,900 infections and 27 deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
source: RT
Împotriva articolelor redacției noastre, persoanele nemulțumite pot formula Contestație în termen de 10 zile de la publicarea articolului, la judecătoria Orășenească nr. 1 München Bayern Deutschland, in conformitate cu Legea federală Germană. Considerăm că nu se pot formula acțiuni la instanțele din România deoarece nici o persoană care activează în trustul nostru nu poate fi extrasă de sub jurisdicția federală germană. Considerăm că redacția noastră nu răspunde în fața autorităților din România ci doar celor federale sau civile germane. deoarece legea română nu are efecte de extraneitate asupra redacției chiar dacă subiectul știrilor face obiectul unor evenimente sau persoane din România și sunt scrise în limba română. Limba română nu este izvor de extraneitate a legii.
absolvent WEB DESIGN Academia Britanică de Comunicare Iasi - absolvent COMUNICARE IN AFACERI Academia Britanica de Afaceri si Comunicare -absolvent JURNALISM EDITORIAL - London School University - 2019 inscris la echivalare diploma la Universitatea Politehnica Timisoara - absolvent studii de Drept Universitatea Europeană Drăgan, cursuri in Drept la Universitatea de Vest Timisoara, absolvent studii de proiectare, pastor coordonator in Biserica Protestanta Evanghelica,
Android Developer pe Google Play și plugin developer la Oxwall, creator de teme Wordpress și Oxwall, operator Wordpress, Drupal, Oxwall, Osclass, Moodle, tehnologii HTML și PHP
Journalist Andrew North is among a group of nine Westerners held by the new Afghan leadership, the self-exiled ex-official claims Amrullah Saleh, the former vice president of Afghanistan, says the Taliban “kidnapped” nine foreign nationals from Western countries, including a journalist who once worked for the BBC before going independent. Andrew North was identified by […]
RT Creative Lab has won the Jury Award at the 2021 Cresta for #VictoryPages, a large-scale social media project dedicated to the defeat of Nazism in World War II. Overall RT Creative Lab won 11 awards at 2021 Cresta. “When I first saw this idea, I was awed by the love and passion of the […]
Older people in Greece who fail to get vaccinated against Covid-19 will face a monthly fine of €100 ($113.64), Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced on Tuesday, in the first of such measures imposed by an EU country. To start, Covid vaccines will be mandatory for individuals aged 60 and over, as Greece seeks to protect […]
