New Zealand finally has a date for when it will achieve its lofty goal of elimination of COVID-19: June 15.
After weeks of urging by public health experts and government wrangling, the country’s Health Department has settled on a definition of elimination of the deadly virus.
New Zealand has followed an elimination policy path since the arrival of the virus, eschewing lighter approaches by countries including Australia.
The Kiwi approach, including a seven-week lockdown, is paying dividends.
On Thursday, health officials announced they had found no new cases of the virus for the 13th straight day, from thousands of tests.
Just one person in New Zealand has COVID-19, an Aucklander currently isolating who is due to be asymptomatic this week, should the virus follow a normal course.
Australia currently has 491 active cases.
However, the final Kiwi case is irrelevant to whether New Zealand has eliminated the disease.
The Ministry of Health now says elimination can be declared 28 days after the last case from a “locally acquired unknown source”, or community transmission, has completed their treatment and tested negative.
According to the Ministry, New Zealand’s last case of community transmission tested positive on 29 April, and was in isolation until 18 May.
“As per the definition of elimination, the 28 day period would be counted from that person’s exit from isolation,” a department spokeswoman told AAP.
That means when Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield holds his regular daily briefing on 15 June – 28 days from 18 May – he will be able to say New Zealand has eliminated COVID-19.