New Zealanders Celebrate End of COVID-19 Restrictions
The Claim
A video of people dancing in a bar depicts people celebrating the end of COVID-19 restrictions in New Zealand.
News posted on
Emerging story
On June 9, 2020, a video claiming to be of a group of people celebrating the end of COVID-19 restrictions at a bar was posted across social media. A post by the Evening Standard said, "Nightclub CCTV shows midnight moment New Zealanders celebrate end of coronavirus restrictions."
Misbar’s Analysis
Many people around the world were surprised by the video, since COVID-19 social distancing restrictions are still in place internationally.
The video is captioned "Moment New Zealand revellers celebrate lifting of coronavirus lockdown restrictions."
An article on Stuff magazine captioned the video “It's party time. Punters at Wellington's Danger Danger bar on Courtenay Place welcome the start of alert level 1.” The security footage from Danger Danger pub was obtained by Stuff magazine. The moment the clock hits midnight, patrons of the pub begin dancing and celebrating the end of COVID-19-related restrictions. The owner of the pub Matt McLaughlin said, "It's a great video of midnight hitting and everyone jumping off their chairs and jumping on the dance floor."
The celebration is due to the move to level one, the lowest of New Zealand’s four-tier alert system, following no new COVID-19 cases for over two weeks. Social distancing will no longer be required, and there will be no limits on public gatherings. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, "While we're in a safer, stronger position, there's still no easy path back to pre-Covid life, but the determination and focus we have had on our health response will now be vested in our economic rebuild. While the job is not done, there is no denying this is a milestone. So can I finish with a very simple, 'Thank you, New Zealand.'"
New Zealand went into total lockdown on March 25, 2020, beginning at stage four with closed business, schools, and enforced social distancing. It had 1,154 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 22 deaths since the virus first arrived in late February.
