New Zealand Reports '0' COVID-19 Cases... "First Clean Country Among Major Nations"

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] The New Zealand government announced on the 8th (local time) that the last patient infected with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has recovered and been released from quarantine, making the country a 'clean zone' free of COVID-19 patients.

According to Bloomberg News and others, the New Zealand Ministry of Health announced that the last remaining COVID-19 infected person, a woman in her 50s, showed no symptoms for the past 48 hours and was deemed recovered, thus released from quarantine. Accordingly, they stated, "There are currently no COVID-19 patients."

The British daily The Guardian explained that New Zealand is the first country among those with over 1,000 COVID-19 cases to declare itself a 'COVID-19 clean country.' Other major foreign media also evaluated it as "the first country to return to pre-pandemic daily life."

At a press conference that day, when New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was asked how she felt upon hearing the report that there were no COVID-19 patients left, she did not hide her joy, saying, "I danced a little." She added, "I believed we could stop the spread of the virus in New Zealand," but also said, "However, complete eradication is not the case at this point, and we will continue to make efforts."

The New Zealand government announced that it would lower the COVID-19 alert level from level 2 to level 1 at midnight that day. Despite the lowering of the alert level, contact tracing records and strict border controls will be maintained. Regarding border control, Prime Minister Ardern said, "There is no plan to lift it anytime soon."

In New Zealand, a total of 1,504 COVID-19 cases and 22 deaths have been reported.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.