Jacinda Ardern said New Zealanders’ adherence to restrictions had ‘saved lives’ (Pictures: Getty/AsiaPac)

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the country is ‘turning a corner’ in the battle against coronavirus after recording the lowest number of new cases in three weeks.

She praised residents for mounting a ‘wall of defence’ which is ‘breaking the chain of transmission’ following the swift implementation of lockdown measures.

The country has recorded 992 confirmed cases of Covid-19 with just one death so far. Health officials said there were 29 new cases on Thursday, the fourth successive daily drop since 89 were recorded on Sunday and the latest sign of a flattening of the curve.

Ms Ardern suggested the four-week lockdown could be softened in just over a weeks’ time, allowing some to return to work if social distancing rules can be maintained.


Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says New Zealand is ‘turning a corner’ in the battle against coronavirus (Picture: Getty Images/AsiaPac)

The lockdown in New Zealand is currently due to expire on April 22 (Picture: Getty Images/AsiaPac)

The PM said New Zealanders’ strict adherence to the rules during the four-week lockdown had ‘saved lives’.



She added: ‘At the halfway mark I have no hesitation in saying, that what New Zealanders have done over the last two weeks is huge.

‘In the face of the greatest threat to human health we have seen in over a century, Kiwis have quietly and collectively implemented a nationwide wall of defence.

‘You are breaking the chain of transmission. And you did it for each other.’

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Graph showing how the number of cases per day fell after New Zealand was placed into lockdown

But she cautioned against taking a foot off the pedal, adding: ‘We have what we need to win this marathon. You have stayed calm, you’ve been strong, you’ve saved lives, and now we need to keep going.’

Ms Ardern said the government will decide on April 20 whether to relax or extend lockdown measures, which are currently due to expire on April 22.

New Zealand confirmed its first case on February 26.

But it began testing more than a month before, on January 22.

The daily number of coronavirus cases recorded each day in New Zealand (in yellow), along with the falling rate of growth in virus cases (red line)

All new arrivals into the country were ordered into quarantine as early as March 14 and cruise ships were banned.

Within days all non-residents and non-citizens were banned from entering the country altogether.

Ms Ardern has now ruled that citizens returning home will now spend 14 days in an ‘approved facility’.

Equivalent figures for the UK

By contrast, the UK is still not carrying out health or temperature checks on people arriving from overseas, including from hotspots like Italy and China previously.

New Zealand’s lockdown was imposed when the country had 363 confirmed cases. The UK’s came into effect when there were 6,650.

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