COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand
The COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand was part of the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first case of the disease in New Zealand was reported on 28 February 2020. The country recorded over 2,274,370 cases (2,217,047 confirmed and 57,323 probable). Over 3,000 people died as a result of the pandemic, with cases recorded in all twenty district health board (DHB) areas. The pandemic first peaked in early April 2020, with 89 new cases recorded per day and 929 active cases. Cases peaked again in October 2021 with 134 new cases reported on 22 October. In response to the first outbreak in late February 2020, the New Zealand Government closed the country's borders and imposed lockdown restrictions. A four-tier alert level system was introduced on 21 March 2020 to manage the outbreak within New Zealand. Since then, after a two-month nationwide lockdown, from 26 March to 27 May 2020, regionalised alert level changes have been used, where the Auckland Region has entered lockdown twice, in August–September 2020 and February–March 2021. The country then went for several months without any community transmission, with all cases restricted to the managed isolation system. In August 2021, New Zealand entered nationwide lockdown due to a case of community transmission in Auckland of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant, with subsequent community cases in Auckland and Wellington. Due to rising cases nationwide, the Government abandoned its elimination strategy while accelerating the country's vaccination rollout. Auckland remained in a form of lockdown until 3 December 2021 when the new COVID-19 Protection Framework ("traffic light system") came into effect. Between February and May 2022, the Government gradually eased border restrictions, public gathering limits, and vaccine mandate requirements. In September 2022, the Government ended the COVID-19 Protection Framework, lifting the remaining vaccine mandates and mask requirements. On 15 August 2023, the New Zealand Government lifted all remaining COVID-19 restrictions. Background On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was the cause of a respiratory illness (coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19), found in a cluster of people in Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China, which had been reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019. The case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower than SARS of 2003, but the transmission has reportedly been significantly greater, according to a statement by Prof. Azra Ghani from MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, Imperial College London, a World Health Organization collaborating centre. Transmission timeline On 28 February 2020, New Zealand confirmed its first case, a woman in her 60s who had recently visited Iran The country confirmed its second case on 4 March, a woman who had recently returned from northern Italy. The number of cases continued to rise significantly through March 2020, reaching a total of 647 (600 confirmed and 47 probable) and 74 recoveries by 31 March. On 29 March, New Zealand also reported its first coronavirus-related death, a woman in her