Thread by @WicMar

I am genuinely surprised why some people around the world still doesn't understand New Zealand's pandemic response strategy and our plan going forward so I will attempt to explain it here.

We have a solid plan folks, we didn't just "get lucky".
🧵

Firstly, it has been VERY successful.

Since March 2020 until Aug 15th we've had:
-380 virus free days🎉🎈
-49 lockdown days in NZ (77 in Auckland)🏡

-Deaths: 26
-Total cases: 3159 (with 56% of these being border cases arriving from other countries directly into quarantine)

The plan:
1. Keep people safe with an elimination strategy - quashing the virus when it enters NZ (via border quarantines, masks, distancing, c19app, tracing, testing, isolation, regional short sharp lockdowns when needed to find out source of virus and keep virus from spreading)

NZ elimination strategy’s four pillars have been:
- Border management
- Detection and surveillance
- Quarantine
-Community support

It is all about Keeping it Out, Preparing for it, Stamping it out, and Managing the Impact of it.

2. Proceeding with this #zerocovid (preventing/eliminating the virus)strategy UNTIL vaccine arrives and population is vaccinated.

The world now has vaccines. We're are doing really well vaccinating and expecting to finish the population, incl. 12-15 year olds, by December.

3. Once majority of population is vaccinated, we then relax our border measures in a phased approach, meaning careful and safe.
This is now planned for the beginning of 2022 (even this year for some measures).

Read about the plan here:

If you don't have time to read, here is a graphic for you of the same plan.

I want to urge people to read up and stop the disinformation around NZ, so we don't have to answer your pesky tweets around "will the borders be closed forever in your prison?" No. And it hasn't been a prison.
Opposite. We have been one of a few luckiest countries in the world.

Here is Jacinda explaining our intentions for some backing up.

”No one likes to use lockdowns forever, and that was not ever our intention. Our collective goal is to move away from these measures when we’re vaccinated. But for now, whilst vaccinating, elimination is the goal.”