By Sophie White
During
this extremely difficult and trying time it is often very hard to see past what
is happening
to us as Americans. We have indeed been hit so hard during this pandemic but we
are not
the only ones. Countries all over the world are either still being affected or
are trying to come
back from all the tragedy. New Zealand, like us, endured a state of lockdown.
However, New Zealand was a lot quicker at combating coronavirus than we were in
the beginning.
Making the decision as to when to lift the
lockdown is a drastic one. All factors have to be
weighed before deciding. In New Zealand, some restrictions are being lifted.
“‘We are opening up the economy, but we're not opening up people's social lives,’ [Prime Minister] Ardern said at the daily government briefing” (BBCNews). Some nonessential businesses will start to reopen to ease into reopening the whole economy. However the social distancing rules are still going to be in place. “Most people will still be required to remain at home at all times and avoid all social interactions” (BBCNews).
The hope is to avoid a major economic lapse. “A leading economist says the Government has a ‘massive fiscal repair job’ on its hands as it tackles the biggest economic recession of our lifetime thanks to the coronavirus pandemic”(NewsHub).
“‘We are opening up the economy, but we're not opening up people's social lives,’ [Prime Minister] Ardern said at the daily government briefing” (BBCNews). Some nonessential businesses will start to reopen to ease into reopening the whole economy. However the social distancing rules are still going to be in place. “Most people will still be required to remain at home at all times and avoid all social interactions” (BBCNews).
The hope is to avoid a major economic lapse. “A leading economist says the Government has a ‘massive fiscal repair job’ on its hands as it tackles the biggest economic recession of our lifetime thanks to the coronavirus pandemic”(NewsHub).
No
matter what is done though, the country’s economy is going to suffer greatly. New
Zealand has a great deal of time before things are somewhat normal again.
However,
the sense of normal we as humans knew for so long is not what we will be
getting back
right away. "Day follows night, just as night follows day. At some stage
we will come round
the corner and come out the other side - but I think this is a big reset.
There's going to be some
structural adjustments that go on here," the economist said (NewsHub). As
much as they hope to go back to the ways things were, it is just not possible
after all that New Zealand has experienced. Social distancing is going to be
around for a while in order to prevent another spike in the outbreak.
New
Zealand is on the path to recovery so far. According to the Guardian, “New Zealand
has recorded its first day of no new cases of Covid-19 since a stringent
national lockdown began more than one month ago” So as of now, things are on
the brighter side for New Zealand, in terms of containing the coronavirus. However,
they cannot just let everyone back out because there is a big risk of the
number of cases going back up. “‘We are still wanting to be sure that there is
no undetected community transmission,’” New Zealand’s director-general of
health said (TheGuardian). But the rules are definitely a lot looser now.
Because
New Zealand was on top of the corona outbreak from the start they had fewer cases
than some countries. “There have been 1,487 confirmed and probable cases of
Covid-19 in New
Zealand, with 86% of them now recovered. Seven people are in the hospital.
Twenty people have
died of the virus; no additional deaths were reported on Monday” (TheGuardian).
The
coronavirus has done damage in a number of countries all over the world, and in
many it is still going on. New Zealand is doing their best to control it and
protect human lives. They locked down the country, similar to many other
countries, in order to contain the outbreak. And like these countries their
economy is in great danger. New Zealand has a long road of getting better ahead
of them, as people and an economy. People who were affected more greatly such
as losing a loved one and those who lost their jobs have so much healing and
coping to deal with. Hopefully New Zealand can make a full recovery soon.
Works Cited
Burrows,
Matt. “Economist's Warning to New Zealand: Coronavirus to Bring Biggest
Recession
of Our Lifetime.” Newshub, 1 Apr. 2020,
“Coronavirus:
New Zealand Claims No Community Cases as Lockdown Eases.” BBC
News,
BBC, 27 Apr. 2020, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-52436658.
“New
Zealand Records First Day with No New Covid-19 Cases since before Lockdown.”
The
Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 4 May 2020,
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