New Zealand's Prime Minister lifted coronavirus restrictions after?the country appears to have eradicated community spread of the virus a second time.
"We can let ourselves once again feel pride," said Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, "that we managed to get to that position together."? ??
The virus was believed to have been eradicated at one point, with the country enjoying 102 days without community transmission after a strict national lockdown.?
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New Zealand's Health Minister Chris Hipkins?said?there were no more active community cases of?COVID-19?in the country after the last patients had recovered from a recent outbreak of the virus.?
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"This is a big milestone," he said. "New Zealanders have once again through their collective actions squashed the virus."Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced in early June that the archipelago Oceania nation had eliminated the virus, lifting the country from weeks of strict lockdown measures in doing so.
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After the second outbreak in August, the island country hasn't had a positive case in 10 days. On Monday, Ardern announced that New Zealand's latest COVID-19 cluster is "under control."??
Auckland's restrictions will be brought down to an alert level one - joining the rest of the country.?
Reports state that changing of restrictions will mean there is no 100-person limit to public gatherings and no distancing rules in bars and restaurants.?
Three infections have been recorded within the last 24 hours but these are all in hotel quarantine.New Zealand has some of the lowest coronavirus numbers in the world, with 1,861 confirmed cases and 25 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University dashboard.?
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Auckland is now back in COVID-19 alert level 1 for the first time in nearly two months.?The region was placed into level 3 on August 12 after a community outbreak of the virus
At Alert Level 1, which is now the alert level of the entire country, people are still encouraged to wear face coverings "on public transport and when you cannot maintain physical distance from people you do not know."