So, as the crowds protesting against the lockdowns in the Auckland's streets have intensified, threatening to boil over into the heightened level of unrest presently roiling its neighbor, Australia, it looks like New Zealand's progressive government, led by PM Jacinda Ardern, has finally thrown in the towel, and by doing so, abandoned its "COVIDZero", just as Australia has started to do.

According to the AP, New Zealand's government has finally acknowledged on Monday that it can longer completely eradicate the coronavirus - a realization that the US, Europe and most other nations (outside China) have already accepted.