The pandemic surrounding the globe, known as “COVID-19” has shut down the world, killed many, affected many lives, and so much more. The pandemic has currently been going on for over a year and progress is setting in. There are vaccines being made and distributed, people learning more about stopping the spread, and other signs leading to the final end of the pandemic. The majority of countries are still facing the wrath of Coronavirus, but it is being faced in less severity than before. The third-world countries across the world are facing Coronavirus severely. There has been success in some countries that have practically eliminated the virus from their country. The most well known country that has essentially erased COVID-19 from their nation is New Zealand. 

New Zealand has officially lifted all COVID-19 restrictions, being one of the first countries to do so. Social distancing, limits on public gatherings, mask mandates, and more have all been eliminated from the requirements that all New Zealand citizens must follow. However, the borders of the country are still closed for foreigners. The schools, offices, shopping malls, and more buildings are able to fully reopen without any of the withdrawals of Coronavirus. The prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, has been thrilled with the lack of the virus and wants to now focus the attention on recovering the economy. The main question that arises after the clearance is, How did they do it?

The Prime Minister began putting COVID-19 restrictions in place before there were many cases in the country to begin with. The quarantine/lockdown began on March 16, 2020 with only a few thousand cases reported. The travel restrictions were set in shortly after by closing the borders of New Zealand. There were restrictions being mandated by the day, along with how severe the enforcement was of the restrictions. Prime Minister Ardern felt strongly about these restrictions as she states, “The worst case scenario is simply intolerable. It would represent the greatest loss of New Zealander’s lives in our country’s history. I will not take that chance. The government will do all it can to protect you. None of us can do this alone.” The efforts of stopping the virus early, intensely strict mandates, New Zealanders following protocol, and far more have all resulted in the great success of the country’s end to the pandemic.

The government of New Zealand has stated however, that the pandemic will always be around. The meaning of this statement is not that the pandemic will continue to haunt the people of New Zealand. Arden believes the virus will be like a common flu, in terms of catching the virus, recovery, severity, and worry. A hypothesis about the pandemic is that it is safe to say that far from now that the virus will be like a common flu for almost all countries. There are many nations around the world who are still facing the pandemic harshly, but there is still hope for a full return to normalcy in the future.

There has been much well deserving praise towards New Zealand and Jacinda Arden for being able to recover from the pandemic so quickly. The WHO has commended New Zealand for their great success in ending the occurrence of the pandemic in their nation. The former Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, used Jacinda Ardern as a perfect example for young girls to look up as a role model. The many young girls across the world have expressed that the New Zealand prime minister has become such an inspiration to them. Jacinda Ardern and New Zealand have successfully decreased the COVID-19 issue in their country and given inspiration to the world.