Virus free New Zealand sets a good example

Where there’s a will there’s a way. New Zealand has become one of the first countries in the world to return to pre-pandemic normality and that’s indeed a hugely encouraging signal.

The fact that a country that reported 1,154 infections and 22 deaths from COVID-19 since it arrived in late February has been able to successfully turn the tables on the virus offers hope for other nations that victory against the deadly pandemic is attainable.

So much so that New Zealand has lifted all social and economic restrictions except border controls after declaring on Monday it was free of the coronavirus.

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

No wonder Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is upbeat about the development.

In her words: “While the job is not done, there is no denying this is a milestone ... Thank you, 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.”

Sincere and sustained efforts clearly helped.

Its 75 days of restrictions included about seven weeks of a strict lockdown in which most businesses were shut and everyone except essential workers had to stay home.

New Zealand’s 5 million people are emerging from the pandemic while more than 7.05 million people have been reported infected with the coronavirus globally and 404,090 have died, as per a Reuters tally.

While big economies such as Brazil, Britain, India and the United States continue to grapple with spread of the virus, children in South Africa have begun returning to classrooms as part of a gradual loosening of restrictions.

On another front, Sweden last week recorded no excess mortality compared to the average of the past five years for the first time since COVID-19 struck a country whose death toll in the pandemic has eclipsed that of its neighbours.

Preliminary data from Statistics Sweden showed the country registered 1,524 deaths last week, slightly lower than the average for 2015-2019, which was 1,569 deaths.

Unlike most other countries in Western Europe, Sweden opted against a full lockdown, keeping most schools and nearly all businesses open while seeking to leverage mostly voluntary restrictions and recommendations on social distancing.

The UAE, on its part, has been taking stern and effective measures to tackle the virus.

The fact that the health entities of the UAE government have conducted more than 2.5 million tests for COVID-19 in the country, the highest worldwide, is clear indication of how meticulously and intensely the measures are being implemented.

Besides, the UAE has been wholeheartedly helping other nations and international organizations.

This has prompted Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), to express his sincere thanks and gratitude to His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and to the government of the UAE for the support provided to the Organization that is represented in 500,000 COVID-19 testing kits worth $10 million.

As Ghebreyesus said on Twitter, “The UAE is a strategic global partner of the WHO and we are grateful for their continued support of our shared mission to suppress and control COVID-19 globally.”