
New Zealand is officially Covid-19 free, final case has recovered - beatthatflight
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/121752568/coronavirus-new-zealand-is-covid19free-last-remaining-active-case-has-recovered
======
flyingkiwi44
Having had 1504 confirmed and probable cases across the country New Zealand
now has no active cases at all. There have been 294,848 tests completed, with
testing still being active both in the community and at borders. New Zealand's
first case was on February 28th.

~~~
redis_mlc
> Having had 1504 confirmed and probable cases across the country

There's more than that in my SF neighborhood.

Which is why I tell Americans that it's too late for general testing and
tracing, and come up with a realistic plan.

An example would be:

\- PSA to go home if you're sick

\- gatekeeping at nursing homes and hospitals

I'm curious what the next step for NZ is though. Keep the borders closed for a
year until a corona vaccine?

~~~
gnat
Reopen borders (with appropriate controls) with other countries that have no
cases. NZ is in talks with Australia to figure out what the right border
controls will be. There are some obvious Pacific Island candidates too. And
then Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, and so on.

I think the world's bifurcating into two blocs and there's a Viral Curtain
between them. Within each bloc it makes sense that there can be free movement
-- if you've given up hopes of eradicating it, then you have nothing to lose
by visiting another country.

Infected people coming into a virus-free zone are a clear and present danger
and will require tests and quarantine. This is what happened for the cast and
crew of the Avatar sequels, who recently re-entered New Zealand to finish
filming. They were tested at the border and are in hotels for a period of
managed isolation.

The end-game is a vaccine, which lets us intermingle without unchecked
exponential growth.

~~~
redis_mlc
> The end-game is a vaccine, which lets us intermingle without unchecked
> exponential growth.

If one can be made. I'm not aware of any approved coronavirus vaccines, and
HIV still doesn't have one after almost 40 years. Many Americans are opposed
to vaccines (anti-vaxxers) anyway.

Herd immunity FTW!

[https://theconversation.com/the-mysterious-disappearance-
of-...](https://theconversation.com/the-mysterious-disappearance-of-the-first-
sars-virus-and-why-we-need-a-vaccine-for-the-current-one-but-didnt-for-the-
other-137583)

~~~
tinus_hn
There’s medication that will reliably prevent you from getting infected by HIV
which is almost functionally identical to a vaccine.

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-
exposure_prophylaxis](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-
exposure_prophylaxis)

~~~
redis_mlc
Well, it's good to know about, but Truvada is a pill you have to continue to
take, and has a long list of side effects.

------
clouddrover
Australia and New Zealand have done well with their coronavirus response:

[https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html](https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html)

Better organised, less politicised and their economies will recover faster
because of it.

------
chriselles
Great result.

But worth some context.

We were the 60th country with a reported case, providing us time to prepare.

We are a remote country with a lot of low population density space.

We had time and space.

------
PopeDotNinja
That's some fabulous news.

