No new coronavirus cases in New Zealand in a past day, alert level may stepping down in a next week
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has spoken out against US President Donald Trump telling elected congresswomen to go back where they came from. Photo / Marty Melville. Sketched by the Pan Pacific Agency.
WELLINGTON, May 4, 2020, NZ Herald. Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield announced that for the first time in close to six weeks testing has not uncovered a single case across a 24-hour period. He said it was a “time for celebration” but also didn’t mean New Zealanders could become complacent, NZ Herald reported.
It wouldn’t be until later in the week after the incubation period which will show if there were any new cases as a result of stepping down to alert level 3.
“We’re nearly there – let’s not slacken off now,” Bloomfield said.
There were no additional deaths to report and the death toll remains at 20. The total number of cases is 1487. One probable case had since been upgraded to confirmed but that does not change the total number of cases. There are four people in hospital.
“Clearly these are encouraging figures today but it is just one moment in time,”
Bloomfield said.
New Zealand cannot afford to squander the hard work and the advantage we’ve “worked so hard for”, he said.
He now needed to be certain there was no community transmission so it was important continued to follow the level 3 rules as later this week they would truly know whether there were other infections due to the incubation period of Covid-19.
It was a risk that people now get complacent and celebrate zero cases so it was “very important” people stuck to the rules and remained diligent.
It is cause for celebration and it was symbolic of the effort that everyone had put in, Bloomfield said.
“This is the first day we’ve had no new cases and we want to keep it that way.”
New Zealand reporting no new Covid-19 cases today reflected the success of the lockdown rather than actions during level three, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.
People were jeopardising our move to level 2 through their behaviour at the weekend, Ardern said.
She said New Zealand mustn’t squander our hard work, Ardern said, so we could how down to alert level 2 and have more freedoms.
“Stay the course,” she said.
“We need to not get ahead of ourselves, stick to our bubble and finish the job we started.”
Trips to public spaces have seen an uptick during the first weekend at alert level 3, which is something we needed to watch, Ardern said.
But ultimately it was better than other countries when their strict lockdowns were lifted.
“Your efforts have put us at the front of the pack.”
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