the entire country of New Zealand, 5 million of us, we into lockdown to stop the spread of COVID-19. - JACINDA ARDERN: Over the past few weeks, the world has changed, and it has changed very quickly. - While we were in Level 4 lockdown, I was given special permission to document what was happening to our country and interview the decision-makers as events unfolded. - I wish this wasn't happening, but it is. - I think in a decision like that, your primary driver has to be science. - I find out how we got here. - I just felt that every day counted. - I can remember pacing around the room quite agitated. I just had the sense, 'Let's push the button now. Let's get ready.' - I meet Kiwis directly affected by the virus ` the bride and groom at the centre of New Zealand's largest clusters tell their story for the first time. I see first-hand just how dangerous this coronavirus is. And I get a close-up look at the enemy as New Zealand searches for a cure. With the world ravaged by COVID-19 and New Zealand in self-isolation at constant risk of new outbreaks, what do we do now? Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2020 It all begins in Wuhan when people start getting sick from a mysterious illness. And at the end of December, the World Health Organisation is told about a pneumonia-like illness. Chinese scientists identified that it is caused by new type of coronavirus. Coronavirus is the name for a family of viruses. Most of them are like the common cold, but there are serious ones like SARS and MERS. They circulate in wild animals, but we still don't know much about this one. Scientists soon discovered that the virus is now spreading through human-to-human transmission, and the virus finally gets a name. - COVID-19. - Two weeks later, COVID-19 lands in New Zealand. - We have testing underway on a suspected case. - Patrick Gower is in the US, and, Patrick, the virus is spreading. - Yes, tens of thousands of suspected cases across the States right now. - It's really working out, and a lot of things are gonna happen. - We have rung the alarm bell loud and clear. - The Director-General of Health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, recommends stepping up New Zealand's response as other countries around the world tried to get on top of the spread. - # Imagine there's... # - Be strong. Be kind. - You must stay at home. - Brace, brace, brace for Level 4. - This is a COVID-19 announcement. New Zealand is moving to Alert Level 4 at 11.59pm tonight. (TRAFFIC LIGHT CROSSING BLIPS) - Level 4 changes our way of living overnight. Stay at home isn't just a message. - Hello, driver. - Hey, mate. COVID-19 movement checkpoint. What is the purpose of your journey today? - Working as a journalist, um, as an essential worker. Essential worker. - OK. We'll let you through. Take care and stay safe. - Here, however even finding all this? Pretty weird. - Oh, very, very weird times. - (CHUCKLES) - That's to say the least. - COVID-19 testing stations are popping up around the country. Cheers, boys. I'm missing fast food, but all this drive-through office is a six-inch swab. - Can be a little bit unpleasant. OK, so you'll feel me twisting a slightly. - Oh. (CHUCKLES) - And it's all done. - Ugh. That wasn't good. But it's not bad, is it? - No. - Made my eyes water. A day later, my results come back. Negative. The prospect of waves and waves of positive cases had put the country's emergency services on edge. It could have been so much different if it turned out like Italy, like America or something like that. - Everyone is so grateful that when not in that situation. - LAUGHS: Yeah. New Zealand under Level 4 is surreal. Everything feels different. This is crazy with no one on the motorway. Can hardly get your head around. The incident involves a patient who experiences regular seizures. COVID could be present, so protection is worn ` not just for the responders, but also for the families, who are scared ambulance staff could be the ones carrying the virus. You're genuinely worried about your bubble getting burst today. - Yes. We've been hoping this wouldn't happen. - We now have a new vocabulary. Alert levels. Community transmission. PPE. Contact tracing. Social distancing. And we live in bubbles. But one month earlier, we had no idea that it would come to this. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern introduces the country to the levels. We immediately moved to Level 2. - I know this current situation is causing huge disruption and uncertainty. And right now, I cannot tell you when that will end. Please be strong, be kind, and unite against COVID-19. - On the very same day the Prime Minister addresses the nation, a wedding takes place at the bottom of the world. It is one of over 450 weddings in New Zealand that weekend. With gatherings under 100 allowed, around 70 people attended the reception in Bluff. The wedding will go on to become the source of one of the biggest COVID clusters in the country, infecting 98 people and taking two lives, including the groom's father. For the first time, the bride and groom, Betty and Manoli, are ready to talk about their experience. - Kia ora. - Hey. Kia ora, Betty. Yeah, nice to meet you. - You too. - Yeah, yeah. Thank you for having me. - Come in. - Yep. - This is Manoli. - Manoli. Yeah, yeah. - Nice to meet you. - How are you, mate? - Good, thanks. - Oh, well, um... Here we are. - Yeah. - Before COVID took over their lives, Betty and Manoli had spent months planning their wedding. Betty had proposed to Manoli on a Stewart Island hunting trip. That's just after the moment. - Mm-hm. And this is the other part afterwards. - Oh, yeah. (LAUGHS) Next photo, next photo, next photo. Come on, come on, come on. (LAUGHS) Wow. - Mm. Yeah. Good photographer. - (LAUGHS) Manoli's father, originally from Greece, had lived in Wellington for over 50 years, where he'd worked on the wharves and own a fish and chip shop. So, that's your dad, Manoli. What was his name? - Christos. - Yeah. You guys were tight? - Very close. Yep. We were best friends, yep. Very... Yeah, very close. - Christos was 87. He planned to return home to Greece to live after the wedding. So, what's everyone doing here? - So, we wanted to have a photo down by the sign there, so we all wandered down. - It was a great photo. - Mm. - Group wedding photo under the Bluff sign. - Yeah. - Yeah. - Oh! - Oh! - The tradition. - She's got to stand on my foot. - Is that an actual thing? - Greek tradition, yeah. - So, it was a Greek and Maori wedding. - It was, yeah. - Yes, that's correct. - Oh! There we go. That's the end of the night dance. - Yeah. - This is the day that you after, isn't it? What we're looking at here. - Awesome. - It was fantastic. (RHYTHMIC CLAPPING) - Eight days before the wedding, Director-general of health Ashley Bloomfield can see the pandemic is getting worse. - I was actually in Invercargill of all places. My son's a bagpiper. I love it. I had gone down therefore the Pipe Band National Championships. And that's probably one of the last mass gatherings there were. And I left my decision so late to go down there, that the only place I could stay was actually a backpackers. Just read quite a seminal, you know, paper that really pulled it together and showed what was happening in some countries. And I can remove pacing around the room quite agitated. I just had the sense, 'Let's push the button now. Let's get ready.' - The next day, the government announces everyone arriving in the country must isolate for 14 days. And the prime minister confirms the country's approach to battling the virus. - The goal is to ultimately flatten the curve. - Which means avoiding an overwhelming peak of cases. But is it the right plan? Did you ever get just worried about New Zealand? - Yeah, I did. And I was worried because what we were seeing overseas was this triple whammy. First of all, the health impact and the deaths if it got out of control. The second was the huge impact on the healthcare system. But the third thing was, you know, just the impact on the social and economic well-being of the country. - Are you sort of, like, in a sort of, 'Oh shit. This could be bad' sort of mood? Or are you more sort of 'this is the process' kind of guy? - Steve Hansen famously said worry's a wasted emotion. Well, I must've been wasting some emotion, because I was worried. There were signs that it was going to be kind of the big one, And there were moments when you think, 'Gosh, I wish this wasn't happening, but it is.' With New Zealand in lock down, like the rest of the country, Betty and Manoli stay at home, happily married for five eventful days. - Happy times. Great times. Having... Amazing day. All our family around us. And then... it all changed. - When... did you start realising that... COVID-19 had been around? - Um... Thursday. - Thursday, yeah. - Mm. - Mm. - One of the guests rang me to say... just ask how we were. 'How are you feeling?' I said, oh, no, we were all right. 'We're all good.' And then he said that he was unwell and had been tested for COVID and was positive. Mm. Then it was like,... Wow. Mm. - You had... COVID-19 yourselves. - I think it was Sunday we got the test results back. It said that we were both positive. Just felt like a normal flu. - Yeah. With me, it was way worse than the flu. Something that I've never had and felt in my life. - Mm. - You know? Was I gonna get right? Was I gonna get out of it? - Four days into lockdown, New Zealand has its first COVID-related death. Invercargill ramps up testing. It's literally at the bottom of the world here. Could you believe that COVID-19 was breaking out here, all over the show? - No, I must admit, when it first happened, I thought, 'Oh, well, we'll be right down here. We're OK.' And then all of a sudden, we had the highest numbers in the country. So going from thinking you were at the bottom of the world; we'll be all right to being in the thick of it was quite interesting. - Did it feel on some days that maybe it was gonna get out of control? - Yeah. (CHUCKLES SOFTLY) Yeah. - Were you worried? - I think we worked so hard initially to get this up and running that we didn't have time to worry... initially. EMOTIONALLY: And I'm not crying. Um... I do remember I went home one day, and I went for a run, and I couldn't run, cos I was crook, going, 'Oh my goodness. What's happening?' - What's happening to your community? What's happening...? - Yeah, the world. What's happening to the world, really. What's going on? What potentially could happen to New Zealand? Seeing what was happening in other parts of the world like Italy at the time and going, 'Crikey, what would happen if it really came here? 'What would happen to our health system?' I guess. - I wish this wasn't happening, but it is. - Before the lockdown in the middle of March, COVID-19 is spreading rapidly around the globe, but in New Zealand, case numbers are two weeks behind most of the world. We have an advantage, but we need to act fast. - The approach was that if it's two weeks' time we need to do it, let's do it now. - And things ramp up. - New Zealand is currently at Alert Level 2. - But the plans change quickly. - The original intention when we went in to Alert Level 2 was to stay there for some time. Very rapidly, it became apparent ` just in the space of a few days, we realised, actually, we needed to move much more rapidly at that point. Our cases were starting to increase, and you could see that the trajectory, if you didn't act really quickly, was that exponential growth. - The lockdown's job was to stop that exponential growth. Every day, we waited for the case numbers to see if the lockdown was working. - If we were the UK, at this point, our equivalent would be 2500 deaths and no end in sight. - Based on those numbers, New Zealand would now have more than 3000 dead. But in March, at the start of lockdown, the number of COVID cases continued to rise. Back in Wellington, Manoli's dad starts to get symptoms. - And the next day, Thursday morning,... he was very, very sick. And he got rushed hospital. He was going up and down. - Mm. And then he started getting... deteriorating. Yeah. - You did talk to him? - Yep. Yeah. But he couldn't say much. - The doctors wanted him to have the oxygen. - Oxygen. Through his... through his nose, but... cos he was pulling that out, cos he was in so much pain. VOICE BREAKS: I just tell him to be strong. And we'll get through it. - You said that in Greek. - Yeah. (SPEAKS GREEK) Mm. - That's the last thing you said to him. - Yep. Next couple of days after that, he... passed away. Yeah. - He lived a great life. Yep. - So what does the Bluff cluster mean to you? For me, it just felt it could've been anyone. - Indeed, yeah. These are all people. These are all Kiwis. And, you know, I have a sense that many New Zealanders also felt that as well. And that's why they wanted to do their bit to ensure that it didn't continue to grow and that we didn't see more and more of this. - New Zealand has 17 significant clusters; the Bluff cluster being one of the largest. Dr Jemma Geoghegan is a genome expert and is now able to genetically trace where many of those clusters originated. - Just about every time a virus spreads to a different person, it might mutate slightly. You know, it did start in Wuhan in China, but quickly escaped and spread around the world. And when it's spreading and when it's mutating at the same time, it forms different versions of itself. And so we can track where these versions came from. You can see lots of connecting lines coming into New Zealand, which means, basically, the virus came from all over. We can see here that there's a family tree of all the New Zealand's cases highlighted in green. And this top cluster actually represents all the samples from Bluff. - Where did the Bluff cluster come from? - The closest genetic relative of the virus that began that Bluff cluster was likely from New York. - The Bluff cluster came from New York City. - Most likely, yeah. - Contact tracing establishes that the virus is brought into New Zealand by a flight attendant. - The flight attendant, from what I understand, was on a flight from LA to New Zealand. And so it's probably likely that someone from New York boarded a flight to LA and perhaps even got on that flight from LA to New Zealand, while infecting the flight attendant and perhaps more people. - The flight attendant is a very close family friend of Manoli and Betty and had no symptoms before the wedding. This was brought in by someone you know well whose come in from overseas. What are your feelings there? Cos everyone will be wondering this. - Not putting the blame on no one. No. - You blame the virus. - Mm. - Yeah. - You wanna have the day back, don't you? - Mm-hm. Yeah, I do. I wanna... look back on that day,... (SNIFFLES) not everything else that happened after it. - On the day we talked, COVID cases around the world are approaching 8 million. - It's such a complicated picture when you build it up. You know, this is a global pandemic. It's bigger than just a wedding. - Diseases have an R0 value ` the bigger the number, the more infectious it is. - This virus is incredibly contagious. If there wasn't any interventions, it's got an R0 of around three to four estimated. So that means that one person on average infects three to four people, and then they go on to infect around three and four people, so this is an exponential spread. And so it is incredibly contagious. - When Adrienne set off the bike the length of the country in February, there were no cases of COVID-19 in New Zealand. It wasn't even labelled a pandemic. Where'd you start? - There we go. So that's right at the top at Cape Reinga, the destination there. - Almost a month later, Adrienne had pushed through to her final destination, the Bluff sign. - To finally make it ` yeah, it was awesome. - At the same time, Betty, Manoli and the wedding party arrived for photos. - And then the coach turned up, and out piled all these people. I'm like, 'Oh, what's going on?' And I didn't talk to the bride and groom, but we're definitely interacting with some of the wedding party. There was a lot of interest in our bikes. Some of them took photos for us, and we were taking photos of them. They were taking photos with my camera, then I'd take it back, and I was eating at the same time, so there was just a lot going on. - Adrienne flies back to Auckland the same day that the prime minister announces New Zealand is heading into lockdown. - I really struggled that week. Got to the kind of` the Wednesday-ish, and I, like, couldn't get out of bed. (CHUCKLES) And then that following weekend, there started` kind of in the media, there were stories about this Bluff wedding cluster. And I was like, 'Oh, OK. 'I wonder if this is a little bit more going on than just feeling tired from riding my bike.' So that's when I went got tested, and then later that week got the positive result back, and, yeah, got coronavirus. (LAUGHS) - Can you believe that you caught coronavirus at the bottom of the world at the end of`? - All the places. (LAUGHS) - Adrienne infects four family members a her bubble. Without the lockdown, it would have spread to her co-workers and their families, and the Bluff cluster would have been even more devastating. It's incredible, really, that they went to the Bluff sign and caught it off the Bluff cluster. - It just highlights how contagious and how infectious this virus is, really. And so without, you know, an Alert Level 4 lockdown, this virus would have infected thousands of people in New Zealand. - But a lockdown wasn't originally part of our plan. - Everyone looked at me blankly, not quite like I was a complete idiot, but a bit of an idiot. - In 2019, New Zealand was ranked 35th in its preparedness for a pandemic. The United States was rated number one in readiness. - You can be as prepared as you like, but it's how you respond and how you behave when the situation actually arises. That is the biggest determinant of success or failure. - And is the pandemic intensifies, a number of strong voices help focus our response. Paddy Gower speaking. Follow the Pohutukawa... Professor Michael Baker is an academic with expertise in infectious diseases. He doesn't work for the government, but this was his field. He needed to get involved. Michael. - Good evening. - Yeah. Sorry to disturb your dinner. Yeah, yep. You're the first person I've who actually visited under... lockdown. - Right? - Yeah. So this is strange. Yeah, yeah. - Let's keep our distance. - But can I`? Can I come in? - Yeah. - Yeah. Michael knew a pandemic was well overdue. 102 years earlier, the influenza virus known as the Spanish Flu set a frightening precedent. A third of the world became infected. - Nothing can totally prepare us for an event like 1918 or another virus that might be just as bad or worse. - Michael tried to get us to pay attention by getting 440 kids at his son's school to play dead, showing how many Kiwis died on just one day at the peak of the 1918 pandemic. 100 years later, Michael promoted a solution if we faced the deadly virus again. - New Zealand is one of the few countries that actually could potentially shut its borders if we were confronted by a very severe pandemic disease. And just two years later, COVID-19 arrives here. - Now is the time to say this is a pandemic, and it is going to affect every country on Earth at some point. Now is the time for maximum containment effort in New Zealand. - COVID-19 can be characterised as a pandemic. - If we wanna move fast, get ahead of the virus, we should be moving right up to Level 4 as soon as possible and, effectively, this is the shutdown approach. - Some people looked at it initially and probably thought that you were a bit crazy. - I like people to agree with me when I say things. - (CHUCKLES) And I went to meetings, and everyone looked at me blankly ` not quite like I was a complete idiot but a bit of an idiot ` and they said, 'Why would we do that?' And, of course, you say, 'Well, actually, I'm not absolutely certain myself.' You know, you're taking a position which you think is logical, but there isn't an evidence base to draw on. - There was this point where you didn't know which way it was gonna go. How are you feeling at that point? - (STAMMERS) I felt dreadful. It's because I wasn't sure, and you get the self doubt. I felt just so uncomfortable, almost quite sickened, actually. - People were doubting you or people weren't gonna go with the lockdown. I mean, what was it? - Just that, um, I couldn't make the case strongly enough. - That you couldn't persuade people to do it? - Yeah. - Why did that sicken you so much? - I just felt that every day counted, um, and that we would, basically lose the battle. - So, that was what was sickening you ` that New Zealand was gonna lose the fight against COVID-19. - I mean, this was the most frightening pandemic I've seen in my working life. - What was the feeling for you when it did happen? - Well, yeah, it felt` I'm feeling like that now. We embraced each other in our department and, (INHALES) just felt hugely relieved. - Michael might be out on his own, arguing for elimination rather than flattening the curve, but he isn't the only person worried about committing to a nationwide lockdown. - Uh, yeah. You have moments of self doubt. You think, 'OK. Is this the right call?' - You know, locking down the country with the best evidence you had. But you're still locking down the country with incomplete evidence. In some ways, it's a gamble. - It is a gamble. You're right. However, we could see what the alternative was. There are two types of gambles. There are the ones where you cross your fingers and throw the dice. And then, there's the calculated gamble. And it seemed to us, really clear ` you either went into lockdown early and avoided a catastrophe, really, or the catastrophe was upon you and you still had to go into lockdown. - And it is starting to work. 12 days after lockdown, the virus peaks and starts coming down. We are doing so well, the talk moves from containment to elimination. - We could allow a wave of devastation to hit us like it has in other countries. Or we could take decisive pre-emptive action by going hard and early into lockdown to stop the spread of the disease in its tracks. - The 1pm daily briefing becomes appointment viewing across the country as the nation rallies behind the elimination goal. (TENSE MUSIC) The next morning, I join the Prime Minister on her way to work. Hi, Prime Minister. Working from home? (CHUCKLES) - Like everyone is. - What happened as we went from flattening the curve to elimination? - I knew that I wanted our health system to cope ` that you want to do everything you can to save lives. And you remember early on, the big movement was 'flatten on the curve'. And so, we modelled flattening the curve and what it looked like for New Zealand, and it was still devastating. No health system is built to cope with a pandemic like this. - We needed to do more. - Yeah. - And that's when we started modelling what that would look like, and it really brought us to the strategy we are in. - And we can see it here. - Yeah. - I mean, what do you think of that? Is it freaky or what? - The first day into lockdown, I stepped out and I just thought it was surreal ` like nothing I'd ever expect I'd ever see. - When you've got to make a decision like the lockdown,... - Yeah. - ...and you don't know all the stuff that you need to know, basically, was their gut instinct in there as well? - I think in a decision like that, your primary driver has to be science. And it has been. One of the arguments that has been made against what we're doing has been that impact on the economy. Then I look at countries who thought, 'No. We'll stay open. We'll operate,' for that same argument, that ended up in lockdown regardless, and I've ended up there longer. You know, by going hard and going early, it wasn't so that we would be there for a long time. It would be so we could be there for the shortest time possible. But as the sacrifice going to be too big And so, big sacrifice upfront that hopefully pays off. - 'But as the sacrifice going to be too big?' - The numbers are just astronomical. You know, web spent $10,000 million in just over three weeks. New Zealand's 1st Lifebuoy hand sanitiser spray. Kills 99.9% of germs you pick up on the go. Just spray...and be safe. (TENSE MUSIC) - We are right in the throes of responding to the biggest pandemic there has been in over 100 years. This one is a huge event. It has been described as the most significant global event since WWII. - ' In the lockdown, 'it is considered a heroic duty to stay at home to protect our old and vulnerable. 'But there is also a new hero keeping the country running ` the essential worker.' - Everyone was scared, you know? And I had a friend call me and say, 'You know, you guys are doing an awesome job.' And I thought, 'What the heck?' You know, I've done this for 20 years. I never got praise like that. But then another person said it and another person. And you start to realise, 'Oh, year, shit. We're doing something here, and it's really good, yeah.' - While supermarkets might be having record sales, many businesses are closed, and the lockdown sees 35,000 Kiwis lose their jobs. - This is a once-in-a-century shock to our economy and our society. - Demand for food parcels skyrocket as many are struggling to survive. The government steps in to stop an economic collapse. - You've made just huge calls as a finance minister. - Yeah. - Up with all of the big calls that Finance ministers have made in New Zealand history. - The numbers are just astronomical. You know, We have spent the best part of $10 billion on the Wage Subsidy Scheme ` $10,000 million ` in just over three weeks. If you want to put that in some kind of context, that's pretty much as much new spending as I was going to be able to authorise through the whole term of government in three weeks. - 'But we're also losing $2.5 billion a week out of the economy. Lockdown is unaffordable. (GLOOMY MUSIC) During lockdown, I drive south to Queenstown as there are no flights. Without tourism, its nearly empty and hotels are cheap. But it turns out there are still tourists in town. How have you guys been enjoying lockdown in New Zealand? - We couldn't be in a better place. - We couldn't be in a better place. - (CHUCKLES) - All of our friends` We communicate to our friends, and everyone of them, every person says, 'Stay where you are over there. It's so much better than in the States.' - Last year, New Zealand had 4 million international visitors. But with borders closed, and stay-at-home orders in place, Queenstown is dead. - Tourism is like farming. And so, you expect ups and downs. I'd have to admit, we didn't quite expect this scenario, where there would be a 100% collapse of business. - Big business is hit hard too. Greg Foran ` the former CEO of Walmart, whose sales are currently soaring ` just started a new job at Air New Zealand. - My first official day happened to be the day after we pulled the first flight out of Shanghai. But, effectively, it feels like we've been in crisis since the very first day I started. Within a week, our world changed. Effectively, your revenue goes from $6 billion to nothing. You know, it's an organisation that` It's something I've never experienced before that just stops. 4000 people have lost their jobs at in Air New Zealand so far. Despite the economic carnage, business leaders like the Mowbray family ` who run global toy company Zuru ` support the lockdown. - Being based in Asia creates huge advantages for us. We currently employed more than 5000 people. - Hi, Anna. - Isn't it so odd, this phenomenon, where I can't actually shake your hand. - It's bizarre. - We have to keep this distance. Yep. So, yeah. - We're lucky we've got space around here. - 'At the beginning of the year, Anna was at the Zuru offices in China, a's the virus started spreading out of Wuhan.' - Really being at the forefront of that allowed me to understand if we let that pandemic take hold, how devastating this could be for New Zealand. - 'The Mowbrays' main concern is for the health of the country, but for them, the lockdown also makes economic sense. - If you go early, does that mean we're gonna come out of it early and we're gonna be in a far better position economically on the other side? If we go late, yeah, we get the economic benefits up till that period of going late. But the opportunity cost and the flipside of that, economically down the track, is gonna be far worse. - As New Zealand moves up to Level 2 for the first time, the business community isn't happy. - We were all talking saying, 'We need to step up the pressure somehow on this government to take more action.' - An emergency conference call between the PM, finance minister, epidemiologist Michael Baker, and business leaders Garham Hart, Craig Heatley, Stephen Tindall, Sam Morgan, Rob Fyfe, and Nick is made. They are all pushing for a lockdown. - She prefaced the call by saying, 'Hey, look, we actually are looking to escalate the levels very quickly.' I feel like as we put more pressure on, I think, the government ` and credit to them ` started to listen. - The next day, the Prime Minister announces we are heading into a four-week nationwide Level 4 lockdown. - Our plan is simple. We can stop the spread by staying at home and reducing contact. - In America, at a time when some parts of the US are shutting down, the President had a different message. - TRUMP: Our country wasn't built to be shut down. America will again and soon be open for business. We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself. We're not going to let the cure be worse than the problem. - Yes, we would take a hit and we are taking a hit. But it seemed to us clear that in this instance, doing the right thing for health and for the health system was also the right thing to do for the economy. - But we still need to find a way out. - Having a vaccine is the Holy Grail, of course. That's what everybody wants. - While we were in Level 4 lockdown, In early March, we are worried about the pandemic overwhelming our health care system. We don't have enough ventilators, and intensive care won't cope with the numbers projected. - We'd be winding down the public health side of the health system for 20 years. The ministry had shrunk to very a small organisation. There was not the capacity around the country. We were doing very little testing. So we had to do something and that meant the lockdown. - As well as slowing the virus, the Level 4 lockdown bought us time to get more tests, more PPE, more hospital beds and better contact tracing and procedures to deal with a brand new virus. But for some, COVID would still be a fight for their life. Tofiga works at the Auckland Airport protecting the border and has been married to Lilian for 35 years. They are two of the more than 1500 people in New Zealand who became ill. When did you realise that you had caught COVID-19? - He was the first. (CHUCKLES) - I got it first. - On the 23rd of March, Tofiga starts to feel ill. By the time he tests positive, he's feeling better. But now Lilian has become very ill. - My body was getting, like, really weak and started to vomit as well. I had a high fever as well. And I knew that I need to go straight to Middlemore, not to any clinic. - With the country under the Level 4, Tofiga is not allowed to enter the hospital with his wife. - They took me straight away... to get tested... (SNIFFLES) ...for my oxygen level. I remember that I was... missing him as well because didn't say goodbye. And after that,... they took me straight away to ICU. I was sedated. - It's not looking good for Lilian, and the doctors are ready for the worst. - Just to prepare for a call from them to come and, you know, say... - Goodbye. - ...goodbye to her. - It could have killed you as far as` You were close. - Mm. It was closed. Mm. So close. I have strong faith and believe in God. He will take off this virus from me. After two weeks, Lilian is woken up from her induced coma, in time to hear the good news the Prime Minister has for the country. - ARDERN: We have done what very few countries have been able to do. We have stopped a wave of devastation. In short, the effort of our team of five million has broken the chain of transmission and taken a quantum leap forward in our goal to eliminate the virus. On that basis, New Zealand will move out of Alert Level 4 lockdown. Stay strong. Stay home. Be kind. And let's finish what we started. Five weeks since he last saw Lilian, Tofiga is allowed to visit. - I just rushed down and grabbed her, held her, and kissed her. - It's just like another new chapter for us. The love of one another. It's so amazing. - With lock down bringing control over the virus, the country moves to Level 2. - Currently, there is nobody in hospital with COVID-19, following the discharge of a person from Middlemore Hospital. - It has been a two-month battle for Lilian and 2.5 months for the country. Then on June the 8th, a few days later, we get the news we have all been waiting for. - REPORTER: What was your immediate reaction when you heard there were no active cases of COVID-19 remaining in New Zealand? - Um, I... I did a little dance. (CHUCKLES) - That night, we went to Level 1. (FESTIVE MUSIC) - I've had questions from friends overseas, you know, 'How is it that New Zealanders did what was asked of them? 'Are you a really compliant group of people?' Uh, not my experience necessarily. (CHUCKLES) The thing that I'm so thrilled about is the extent to which New Zealanders leant in on this, where people actually voluntarily put huge restrictions on their own lives, knowing that it may not be of benefit to them, but it would be a benefit to the community and to the nation as a whole. And look what we've achieved. - Yeah. I mean, who are the heroes here? - Well, New Zealander of the Year is New Zealand, you know, actually. - And in June, while New Zealand cautiously celebrates a new kind of normality, around the world, the virus rages on. In the US, California issued a mandatory stay-at-home order six days before New Zealand, but the state now has the most cases in the US, and five months on, things have still not returned to normal. - So, this is a street during COVID times. There's not a lot going on. Wherever we go, we have to have our masks on now. - Kiwi couple Karen and Peter moved to the States on student visas back in 1993 and made a life there, bringing up their four kids in Los Angeles. But the COVID threat has changed everything. Peter has a serious autoimmune disease and catching the virus could be life threatening. - I mean, we count it as a good day when there are less than 20 people dying of COVID just in our county. - Whoa. - And we just don't see any end in sight, so it gets harder and harder and harder to think of a reason to get up in the morning. - So with all of that upon them, Karen, Peter and the family have decided to return to New Zealand. I meet the family halfway through their two weeks' quarantine on arrival. Their first of two COVID-19 tests has come back negative. - Welcome back to New Zealand. Welcome home. - ALL: Thank you. Yeah. How good does it feel to be back? - Oh, man. I mean, it's home, right? I mean, I know that we've lived overseas for a long time, but this is our home. This is where our family is. This is where our culture is, where this is where we are on the inside. - Most people don't get this opportunity, and we are so thankful. Just honestly, totally grateful for this. - I'm very excited to live an actual life. - How long will these hotel quarantines go on? Is this the new normal? - I'm worried that this is how it's gonna be for a long time. - It seems like it could be for a while, doesn't it? - After two weeks of quarantine, Karen, Peter and the family, COVID-free, are at last out. But just 12 hours later ` 102 days since elimination ` COVID-19 was back in the community. - We have come too far to go backwards. We know what to do because we've successfully done it before. - Auckland is ordered back into Level 3 lockdown and is isolated from the rest of the country who move to Level 2. The government is spending $37 million to help find the vaccine. The mission is urgent, and our top virologists ` some of the best in the world ` are working with scientists around the globe. - Having a vaccine is the Holy Grail, of course. That's what everybody wants. - It is the holiest of grails. - It's everything. - But it's not that easy. - I think we should be thinking more along the lines of two years or a little longer. To put that in perspective, that would be an exceptional effort. Most vaccines take more like 10 years to 15 years. - An effective vaccine is the safest way to develop herd immunity, where most of the population is immunised and the spread of the disease is constrained. The only other way is to let the virus spread. Herd might be achieved when around 70% of people have caught the disease. But no one knows of having recovered from the virus offers long-term immunity yet. And while most people will experience mild symptoms, it would have a devastating effect for the rest, as the health system becomes overwhelmed. At present, less than 2% of Americans have had the virus, and there have already been 175,000 deaths. And that's why New Zealand chose elimination. - Going down the herd immunity route, there's a lot of pain and anguish that would need to be gone through. We are fortunate in New Zealand in that we have given ourselves a choice. I think the only choice is to keep the virus out and to wait on effective vaccine or effective antivirals. - It is the only way. - That's the only way for now. Yeah. Until we find something. - Until that vaccine comes, we're always gonna be worried, aren't we? You're always going to be worried. - We'll have to keep learning as we go, and we'll have to keep making sure we're making good decisions. - We need a vaccine, don't we? - Well, we do need a vaccine. But in the meantime, we've got to adapt. We've got to get used to this new reality. - 'The first lockdown was rough on New Zealand. It was a blunt tool ` 'even deemed unlawful for the first nine days ` but it worked. We eliminated the virus for 102 days.' - It gave us the breathing space to set up all these capabilities we just didn't have. And I think we've used that time well. But we're not in the clear. I mean, I think this is the first battle won in what will be a long-term campaign. A lot of things have to go right. You know, it's a tough virus to keep out. - Elimination was an impressive first step in the fight against COVID-19. Thousands of lives were saved, And as a country, with definitely more prepared to fight coming outbreaks. But a big wave today would still overwhelm the health system, and our hard border is far from tight. The reality is the enemy could strike at any time. Antiviral drugs could make it less lethal, and rapid testing could slow the spread. But they aren't ready, so we can't let loose. Can the country take any more lockdowns? How long can we live like this? Elimination is our best choice. At this moment, there is no better option. In the University of Otago's High Containment Lab, work is being carried out to find a vaccine ` The very thing that could end all lockdowns and finally defeat COVID-19. - It's right there? - Right there. - It feels weird. It feels reall` - (CHUCKLES) It doesn't look like much, does it? - No. - But, you know, it's a tiny, tiny, little particle that can really cause a devastating effect, like many viruses. - I guess what everybody wants to know is have you made a breakthrough in there today? - Uh, nothing novel today, unfortunately. - Yeah. Just keep that locked up and keep working on that vaccine, OK, pal?. - (CHUCKLES) - We will. We will. (DRAMATIC MUSIC SWELLS) Captions by Julie Taylor and Kristin Williams. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2020 - Supporting local content so you can see more of New Zealand on air.