New Zealand ERADICATES coronavirus: Jacinda Ardern wins her battle over virus as the last Kiwi to fall ill recovers – meaning nation has ZERO active cases
New Zealand has completely eliminated coronavirus from within its borders after the final patient with the disease recovered.
The final patient, a woman in her 50s recorded no symptoms for 48 hours, before being announced as recovered at St Margaret’s Hospital and Rest Home in Auckland on Monday.
She has since been released from isolation and is free to go home.
NZ Director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said the woman’s recovery was something ‘the rest of New Zealand can take heart in’.
‘Having no active cases for the first time since February 28 is certainly a significant mark in our journey but as we’ve previously said, ongoing vigilance against COVID-19 will continue to be essential,’ Dr Bloomfield said.
The recovered woman listed as a probable case when it emerged there was a COVID-19 cluster at St Margaret’s Hospital and Rest Home.
She initially tested negative to coronavirus but became unwell at a later date and tested positive to the potentially life-threatening disease.
Now that she has recovered, there are no active cases left in the country. It has also been 17 days since a new case emerged in NZ.
The woman’s recovery means that the St Margaret’s cluster has now closed, as have seven other clusters across the country.
NZ has had 1,154 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since recording its first infected person on February 28.
More to come.