Coronavirus in New Zealand: Why no new cases have been reported for five days – and what other countries could learn ‘We have been acting and planning as if this would be a pandemic for some weeks now,’ said the Director General of Health

New Zealand has not had any new cases of coronvirus for five days, despite numbers continuing to climb across the world.

The country has been following a “keep it out, stamp it down, slow it down” approach to the virus, the NZ Herald reported, and was treating the outbreak as a pandemic weeks before the World Health Organisation officially classed the virus as one on Wednesday.

Preventative measures such as travel restrictions from Iran and China, moves which are usually introduced once a country witnesses a spike in cases, were instead introduced early by New Zealand’s authorities.

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Five people have been infected with the virus in New Zealand so far, and nearly 9,000 people are in self-isolation around the country. This includes those who came into contact with infected people or have recently come back from South Korea or northern Italy, where outbreaks have seen large numbers of confirmed cases.

Director General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said: “We have been acting and planning as if this would be a pandemic for some weeks and now and we continue to plan and respond with pace.”

Travel bans

Much of the country’s tactics for tackling the virus’ spread was to curb travel to and from the virus’ “hotspots”.

It had imposed strict regulations on entry to the country for all foreign nationals travelling from mainland China at the beginning of February, before New Zealand had experienced its first case.

On the same day the country confirmed its first case, this ban was extended to people who had recently been through or in Iran. The person confirmed with coronavirus had visited Iran and is thought to have contracted it while in the country.

The Government then asked people to self-isolate if returning from Italy after an additional two cases were confirmed in people who had been to north of the European country, where the number of cases was growing. The authorities asked anyone who travelled from Italy or South Korea to New Zealand to self-isolate for 14-days.

Tailored approach

New Zealand’s government has also promoted the importance of curbing the virus’ spread, and encouraged people to stay at home if they feel even slightly unwell. The thousands of people who have or are self-isolating are likely a key reason why the country is seeing so few cases emerge.

In addition, there have been efforts to respond quickly to developments to the virus, and introduce strict policies if needs be.

The Ministry of Education is reportedly planning for the closure of schools, while the Government were examining ways to enforce self-isolation if necessary, including by legal means.

Dr Dale Bramley, lead CEO for the northern region District Health Boards (DHB), said there were several things they were doing in response. Among them, Auckland’s DHBs increased their presence at New Zealand’s borders this week.