New Zealand admits it can no longer rid itself of the virus

The New Zealand government on Monday admitted something most other countries accepted long ago: It can no longer completely rid itself of the coronavirus.

Prime Minister Jacinda Arden announced a prudent plan to lift the quarantine in Auckland despite a still-active outbreak.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, New Zealand has applied an unusual zero-tolerance strategy to the virus that has required strict quarantines and aggressive contact tracing.

Until recently, that elimination strategy had worked very well for the country of 5 million people, which has reported just 27 deaths from the virus.

While other countries suffered high death toll and disrupted their daily lives, New Zealanders returned to workplaces, schoolyards and sports stadiums safe from local contagions.

But all that changed when the more contagious delta variant managed to emerge from a quarantine center in August, after arriving in the country with a traveler returning from Australia.

Despite New Zealand imposing the strictest form of quarantine after detecting only one local case, it was ultimately not enough to stop the outbreak completely.

One factor could have been that the disease spread among some groups with more qualms towards the authorities, such as gang members and homeless people living in temporary accommodation.

The outbreak has surpassed 1,300 cases, with 29 new ones detected on Monday. A few have been found outside Auckland.

The seven weeks of lockdown in Auckland have helped keep the outbreak under control, Ardern said.

“In this outbreak, it is clear that long periods of heavy restrictions have not led to zero cases,” Ardern said. “But it’s okay. Elimination was important because we had no vaccines. Now we have, so we can start to change the way we do things.”

The vaccination campaign in New Zealand started slowly compared to most other developed countries. The rate of immunization skyrocketed in August after the outbreak began, but has dropped significantly since then.

Around 65% of New Zealanders have received at least one dose and 40% are fully vaccinated. Around 79% of people 12 years of age and older have received at least one dose.

Under Ardern’s plan, which begins Tuesday, Auckland residents will be able to meet outdoors with loved ones from another home, schools for young children will reopen and people will be able to go to the beach.

The dates for the gradual reopening of shops and, later, bars and restaurants have not yet been decided.

The elimination strategy has served the country very well, the president said, but the government has always sought to make a transition to vaccine protection, a change that has been accelerated by the delta variant.

Although the government’s strategy had broad support from the population, it was beginning to receive more criticism. Hundreds of people protested over the weekend against the quarantines.

Opposition lawmaker Chris Bishop said the government had no clear strategy for managing the outbreak other than full surrender.

However, Ardern said most of the measures would remain in place to keep the outbreak under control. That included extensive contact tracing and isolating those infected.

“There are good reasons for us to be optimistic about the future,” Ardern said. “But we can’t rush.”