New Zealand will phase out its zero-covid strategy, acknowledging it cannot eliminate coronavirus
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After months of back-and-forth between virus-free life and lockdowns, New Zealand will phase out its pursuit of zero covid-19 cases and instead rely on vaccines to allow the country to live with the coronavirus.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday that New Zealand will transition from relying on harsh restrictions, instead using vaccines and “everyday public health measures” to keep residents safe. She added that the change was one “we were always going to make over time.”
But the delta variant, Ardern said, had “accelerated” this transition.
New Zealand’s admission that it cannot fully eliminate the virus and must instead learn to live with it marks a dramatic shift from the strategy it had employed throughout the pandemic — one that drew attention for the severe restrictions it involved, but also envy from some around the world who were living among widespread outbreaks.
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