Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has praised New Zealanders' "sacrifices" as Covid-19 Alert Level 4 ends, saying "we have done it together".
Her comments this afternoon come as New Zealand prepares to go to Level 3 at 11:59pm tonight.
"We have spent nearly five weeks working in ways that just two months ago would have seemed impossible, but we did and we have done it together," Ms Ardern said.
She says New Zealand has managed to get the R0 (transmissibility value) down to just 0.4 people per case, while other countries are still seeing an R0 value of 2.5 people per case.
Those "incredible numbers" are down to the "sacrifices of every Kiwi" Ms Ardern stated.
The PM said not being able farewell loved ones has been one of the toughest part of the Level 4 lockdown. (Source: Other)
However, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield cautioned we still need to be vigilant now more than ever to make sure Covid-19 continues to be eliminated here when isolated cases emerge.
It comes as it was also announced today that a woman in her 90s from Auckland has died, bringing the national Covid-19 death toll to 19.
The woman died at Waitakere Hospital. She is the third person from St Margaret's Rest Home to die with the virus.
The Prime Minister thanked the Director-General of Health and his team for leading the country’s response against the virus. (Source: Other)
Today, five more people were found to have Covid-19 in New Zealand. All are linked to existing cases, including three from the St Margaret's Rest Home cluster.
The new cases are made up of one confirmed case and four probable cases.
The national total of Covid-19 cases is now 1469, a net reduction of one case since six previously probable cases have been deemed still under investigation or not confirmed.
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