New Zealand Gives up ‘Zero COVID’ Approach

Read MoreAfter implementing one of the most strict COVID-19 policies for over one and a half years, New Zealand decided to give up its “zero COVID-19” strategy and try to live with the CCP virus, also known as the novel coronavirus. On Monday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a plan to ease lockdown restrictions in Auckland, shifting her government’s focus to vaccination. “As you can see, with this outbreak and with Delta, the return to zero is incredibly difficult. Our restrictions alone are not enough to achieve it quickly,” Ardern said during a press conference. “In fact, for this outbreak, it’s clear that long periods of heavy restrictions has [sic] not got us to zero cases.” In March 2020, Ardern ordered everyone arriving in the country to be self-quarantined for 14 days. She said at the time that the country had “the widest-ranging and toughest border restrictions of any country in the …