COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand

1–9 confirmed cases 10–49 confirmed cases 50–99 confirmed cases 100–199 confirmed cases over 200 confirmed cases





The COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand began in late February 2020 and is part of the global spread of the novel respiratory disease COVID-19 .

Triggered by the group of Coronaviridae associated virus SARS-CoV-2 Global took COVID-19 pandemic originated in December 2019 in China. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified the outbreak of the novel virus as a global pandemic .

After a strict two-month lockdown , New Zealand declared itself coronavirus-free on June 8, 2020. By that time, the country had counted 1,504 infections and 22 deaths. On June 15, 2020, it was announced that two women who had traveled from the UK had reintroduced the COVID-19 virus to New Zealand.

course

New Zealand government poster on the pandemic

The first COVID-19 case was reported in New Zealand on February 28, 2020. On February 3, the New Zealand government announced that all travelers from China would be refused entry into New Zealand, with the exception of citizens of New Zealand and permanent residents with their families. As of March 19, 2020, New Zealand's borders have been closed to newcomers from abroad.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on March 21, 2020 that she would use a coronavirus pandemic warning system based on the existing bushfire warning system, and on March 21, 2020 imposed level 2 of a total of four possible gradations. Level 1 contains the lowest and level 4 the highest danger level. After infections were reported in all 16 regions of New Zealand, the government of New Zealand proclaimed level 4 on March 25, which was valid from March 26 for a period of at least four weeks. With the proclamation of level 4, Prime Minister Ardern pursued a concept to eliminate the virus by imposing strict bans with penalties. Everyone had to stay at home, only essential errands and an outside stay for errands were only allowed to one person. All educational and public institutions were closed.

Part of the decision about a hard lockdown in New Zealand may have been a. also led to the relatively small number of intensive care beds with ventilators, which in New Zealand is 5 per 100,000 inhabitants (compared to 29 in Germany). 97% of New Zealand's population said they would stick to the lockdown; Prime Minister Ardern, who had advised every single citizen “be a good person” in the difficult situation, cut her own salary by 20 percent.

On April 8, 2020, New Zealand had the world's lowest death rate from COVID-19 infected people at 0.1%. As a result of this development, it was announced on April 20, 2020 that numerous US billionaires were withdrawing to New Zealand, including Peter Thiel and James Cameron .

On April 27, New Zealand lowered the previous warning level 4 to level 3. This meant a relaxation of the previously strict lockdown, but while maintaining the distance rules. The new warning level should initially apply for two weeks and then be checked again. The approximately 400,000 employees were now able to resume their work. Pubs and restaurants were allowed to offer take-away products. The holding of large events remained banned, shopping centers and external borders remained closed. However, teaching was resumed in some schools.

On May 4, 2020, the New Zealand health authorities announced that the number of new infections had dropped to zero for the first time in weeks.

Five weeks later, on June 8, 2020, the Ministry of Health announced that the last known corona patient had been symptom-free for 48 hours and was therefore considered cured. With effect from the end of this day, all restrictions such as distance requirements or event restrictions were lifted, only the strict entry regulations remained in force.

On June 30, 2020, David Clark, New Zealand's Minister of Health, resigned from his post. The reasons for this he gave the criticism of the course of the hard New Zealand lockdown and his own misconduct, as he went on a beach holiday with his family, contrary to the lockdown rule.

After 102 days without local new infections, a new corona cluster was identified in Auckland in mid-August. By August 13, 17 people from the area around the first known case from the cluster had been identified as carriers of the virus. The government ordered the closure of schools, kindergartens and non-relevant companies in the big city and tightened the quarantine rules. Accordingly, infected people have to be under state-guarded quarantine. Infected people in quarantine on their own responsibility had apparently previously received sick visits from friends and relatives. The source of the cluster was initially unclear. A day later, the cluster had grown to 29 people, two of whom had already carried the virus 200 km south to Tokoroa . New Zealand researchers identified the virus strand in the newly created cluster as subtype "B.1.1.1", a variant that was not present in the cases that were quarantined after traveling to New Zealand. So the origin remained unclear at first.

On August 17, 2020, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that the 2020 general election in New Zealand would be postponed from September 17, 2020 to October 19, 2020 due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases.

Economic measures

The economy of New Zealand with its 5 million inhabitants is heavily dependent on tourism, the resulting income amounts to 200 billion NZD (114 billion €). Significant revenue losses are to be expected with the New Zealand lockdown being imposed.

The government of New Zealand is making available to the economy 12.6 billion NDZ (7.2 billion €) and 5.1 NZD (2.9 billion €) for wage earners to cope with the corona crisis. State intervention is limited to June and the effect is to be checked in May. However, it is widely believed that the crisis will last longer and will result in job losses.

Government wage subsidies amount to up to $ 150,000 per company that experienced a 30% annual revenue decline each month between January and June 2020. This subsidizes government payments to companies of NZD 585 (€ 334) per employee per week with an average weekly wage of NZD 1,300 (€ 742). Those who are already on welfare should receive NZD 25 more per week.

Critics note that this concept is not balanced because, although social support is increased, wage earners have to accept a loss of income. This would mean that poorer households in particular would have problems that could be better minimized by the state through temporary tax breaks or household payments.

statistics

Development of the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand according to data from the Ministry of Health:

See also

• List of epidemics and pandemics
• List of deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic

Web links

Commons : COVID-19 Pandemic in New Zealand  - Pictures, Videos and Audio Files Collection

• World Health Organization (WHO): Coronavirus disease (COVID-2019) situation reports on the website www.who.int (English)
• Johns Hopkins CSSE : Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases. (English)
• Website World of Meters : real-time data of the Corona virus pandemic (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Pulmonologists on the net: Covid-19: Causes. Online at www.lungenaerzte-im-netz.de. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
2. ↑ Tagesschau: “Deeply worried”. WHO speaks of corona pandemic. March 11, 2020. Online at www.tagesschau.de. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Last patient recovered: New Zealand declares itself free of coronavirus. In: news.orf.at. ORF , June 8, 2020, accessed on June 8, 2020 . 
4. ^ New Zealand records two new cases of coronavirus, tourists on the move as European nations open borders. In: Australian Broadcasting Corporation of June 15, 2020
5. ↑ World Health Organization: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report. February 28, 2020. Online at www.who.int. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
6. ↑ NZ to close doors on foreign travelers from China. In: RNZ from February 2, 2020
7. ↑ Australia and New Zealand are closing their borders. In: WAZ from March 19, 2020
8. ↑ Derck Cheng: Coronavirus: PM Jacinda Ardern outlines NZ's new alert system, over-70s should stay at home. In: Nzherald of March 21, 2020
9. ↑ COVID-19 Alert System. In: Government of New Zealand, undated, accessed April 13, 2020
10. ↑ Anke Richter: Soft words, tough measures. In: Zeit Online from April 20, 2020
11. ↑ Protecting lives and livelihoods: the data on why New Zealand should relax its coronavirus lockdown from Thursday. In: The Conversation of April 17, 2020
12. ↑ Mirjam Hecking: US billionaires seek protection in New Zealand. In: Manager Magazin from April 20, 2020
13. ↑ COVID-19 (novel coronavirus). In: Ministry of Health of New Zealand, April 24, 2020
14. ↑ Till Fänders: New Zealand's Life in the "Bubble". In Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, April 28, 2020.
15. ↑ Baden Latest News, May 5, 2020, p. 10.
16. ^ Coronavirus: New Zealand minister resigns after lockdown blunders. In: BBC News of July 2, 2020
17. ↑ "New Zealand PM says Covid-19 outbreak will 'get worse' as Auckland cluster grows" The Guardian of August 13, 2020
18. ^ Eleanor Ainge Roy: "New Zealand Covid-19 outbreak: 13 new cases as virus spreads outside Auckland" The Guardian of August 14, 2020
19. ↑ "Covid 19 coronavirus: Kiwi scientists identify 'virus family' of new outbreak" nzherald.co.nz from August 16, 2020
20. ↑ New Zealand postpones parliamentary elections from August 17th to Frankfurter Allgemeine .
21. ^ Praveen Menon: New Zealand's lockdown contained coronavirus. Now comes the hard part. In: Reuters of August 21, 2010.
22. ^ Brad Olsen: New Zealand's coronavirus stimulus leaves the working poor most exposed. In: The Guardian of March 17, 2020
23. ^ The New Zealand Ministry of Health .