New Zealand discharges its last coronavirus patient from the hospital

New Zealand has discharged the last case of coronavirus in the country and recorded no new cases of COVID-19 for five days consecutively, ministry of health officials announced on Wednesday.

The last coronavirus (COVID-19) patient to be discharged in New Zealand was being treated at Middlemore Hospital in Auckland.

During a press briefing on Wednesday, officials shared the hopeful statistics. The total number of recovered cases is now at 1,462, and there are just 21 remaining active cases of COVID-19.

The country has conducted a total of 267,435 coronavirus tests and contact tracers are working to monitor the remaining cases through the NZ COVID Tracer app.

New Zealand also launched another app on Wednesday, which will provide health care professionals with access to information on the updated case definition, on local clinical pathways, and on guidance around use of personal protective equipment.

New Zealand borders has slowly been opened, which has been “so important for us to keep the infection out of the country,” public health official Dr. Ashley Bloomfield said during the press conference. Bloomfield also credited proper hygiene such as hand washing.

In late April, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that New Zealand had “won” the battle against widespread community transmission of the virus.

Ardern said that to fully “succeed” in the fight against the coronavirus, the country must “hunt down” the remaining cases of the virus. “There is no widespread, undetected community transmission in New Zealand. We have won that battle,” said Ardern. “But we must remain vigilant if we are to keep it that way.”

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