In this Friday, April 17, 2020, photo, medical staff test shoppers who volunteered at a pop-up community COVID-19 testing station at a supermarket carpark in Christchurch, New Zealand. New Zealand has set itself an ambitious goal of not just containing the coronavirus, but eliminating it altogether. Experts believe the country could pull it off, thanks to its geography and decisive early actions by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who has put the country into a strict lockdown. But whatever happens, the country will continue feeling the effects of the pandemic, which has hobbled its vital tourism industry. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

New Zealand’s Health Ministry says the country, which implemented one of the toughest lockdowns anywhere in the world, no longer has any active cases of coronavirus. The last case of the disease was reported on May 22.

More than 7 million people around the world have now been confirmed to have coronavirus with nearly 403,000 dying from the disease, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The US, the UK and Brazil have recorded the highest death tolls.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that New Zealand will lift its last remaining restrictions to curb the coronavirus at midnight (12:00 GMT) when the country will return to Level 1 on its four level system of alerts.

Ardern said New Zealand had introduced a strict lockdown 75 days ago with the aim of getting to a level “where life feels as normal as it can in the midst of a global pandemic. Today, I can announce that cabinet has agreed we can now move to Level 1.”

International borders will remain closed given the challenge of COVID-19 around the world.

“There’s no denying this is a milestone,” Ardern said. “Thank you, New Zealand.”


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