New Zealand on Monday declared that it had eliminated the COVID-19 from the country. It has now been 18 days since the new case was reported in the country, during this period 40,000 people have been tested but no one tested positive.
When the world is continuously grappling with the COVID-19, with a total number of cases crossing the 70 lakh mark, out of which more than 4 lakh deaths have been reported, a piece of good news came from New Zealand where the last infected person has recovered. In the country, only 1,500 people contracted the virus out of which 22 lost their lives.
It is for the first time since February when there have been no active cases and as a result of which all restrictions have been lifted on Monday as the country entered in Level 1. However, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said border controls would not be lifted even though the government is set to roll back all containment measures. She further said “We can hold public events without limitations, private events such as weddings, functions and funerals without limitations. Retail is back without limitations. Hospitality is back without limitations. Public transport and travel across the country are fully opened.”
The Oceania nation had imposed 75 days of lockdown, including about seven weeks of stringent restrictions in which almost businesses were shut except essential businesses. This is a good sign for other small population countries of the world. However, New Zealand is not the only country who managed to suppress the virus there are several other nations as well who are performing great in response to this virus. Some of them are as follows
Eritrea
This East African nation with a population of only 60 lakhs declared itself corona free on May 15. The country, however, had only 38 Coronavirus cases. The first case was reported on March 21 in a resident of Norway and after that from April country went into lockdown.
Montenegro
It was the last country of Europe to report a case of Covid-19 and now it had declared itself virus-free on May 24. This small population country announced severe lockdown and restrict the cases tally at 324. After declaring the country free from the virus they threw their borders open to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo and Albania.
Seychelles
This archipelago nation reported only 11 positive cases of Covid-19 and all of them have recovered now. The nation with a population of 97,096 reported its first case on 14th March. After two cases Seychelles announced a temporary ban on cruise ships, along with travel ban to China, South Korea, Italy and Iran.
Papua New Guinea
This Southeast Asian country declared itself free from COVID-19 on May 4. The country reported its first case on March 20. However, the relief is that this country with a population of 8.9 million reported only 8 cases. Papua New Guinea had introduced stringent curbs like night curfew and bans on public gatherings and public transport. The government had also banned travellers from Asia and closed its border with Indonesia.
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Saint Kitts and Nevis
This island country from the West Indies region became free of Covid-19 on 19th May after all of its 15 confirmed cases recovered. The country with a few thousand populations reported its first case on March 24. As precautionary measures, the country had closed its airports, schools and non-essential businesses, besides announced a curfew and made mask and social distancing compulsory.
Fiji
This Pacific island nation has declared itself free from the virus on April 20. The country reported only 18 cases and all of them were recovered by then. Fiji reported its first case on 19th March. The authorities in Fiji restricted flights from certain countries imposed an additional 14 days mandatory quarantine for people arriving and announced the closure of schools and non- essential enterprises.
East Timor
This small tropical Pacific nation is also free from COVID-19. This country reported only 24 positive cases and all of them were recovered. The nation reported its first case on March 21 after which country went for strict lockdown and travel ban.
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Holy See
This tiny jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome announced itself free from the virus on June 6 after all of its cases recovered from the disease. This region reported only 12 cases after which it closed its tourist spots.