New Zealand must prepare for new coronavirus outbreaks, PM

New Zealand must prepare for new coronavirus outbreaks as the pandemic spreads globally but will not drop its elimination strategy if community transmission was discovered, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.

Ardern said the epidemic was now “exploding” outside New Zealand and countries that had been models in the fight against COVID-19 had now experienced further community outbreaks.

The government released a new framework on how it intended to fight the virus in the event of new cases, with elimination still the central strategy.

“No system is 100% foolproof and around the world we are seeing even the most rigorous measures being tested by the virus,” she told reporters in Wellington.