New Zealand Could Lift Major Coronavirus Restrictions Next Week

New Zealand leaders could decide as early as next week to lift restrictions on social distancing and group gatherings due to the country’s success in halting the spread of the coronavirus. “Our strategy of go hard, go early has paid off,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Tuesday. The country instituted strict lockdown measures for more than six weeks and now has reported 11 consecutive days with no new confirmed cases. Cabinet members will decide Monday whether to move into the next phase of the government’s slow easing of restrictions under which the country’s borders would still remain closed.