PM Ardern ‘dances for joy’ although ‘job is not done’ as she declares New Zealand free of coronavirus

New Zealand lifted all social and economic restrictions except border controls after declaring it was free of the coronavirus. “While the job is not done, there is no denying this is a milestone,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told reporters on Monday.

Public and private events, the retail and hospitality industries and all public transport were allowed to resume without the distancing rules still in place across much of the world.

Ardern said she had done a “little dance” when she was told there were no more active Covid-19 cases in New Zealand. “We are confident we have eliminated transmission of the virus in New Zealand for now, but elimination is not a point in time, it is a sustained effort,” the PM said.

The country has reported 1,154 infections and 22 deaths since the virus arrived in late February. “We will need to move cautiously here. No one wants to jeopardize the gains New Zealand has made,” Ardern said.