Bloomfield said the definition of "coronavirus elimination" was getting down to a small number of cases that can be stamped out with rapid identification, isolation and contact-tracing.
New Zealand's strict social distancing regimen is being held up as a model for keeping the spread of Covid-19 under control, with hunting, swimming and surfing all banned, and case numbers dwindling.
As of Wednesday, New Zealand had 969 confirmed cases, 241 "probable cases", 282 recovered cases, just 12 peoplein hospital with Covid-19, and one death from the illness.
Cases have fallen for three consecutive days, with 54 confirmed or probable cases reported Tuesday, and 50 on Wednesday.
While the population of New Zealand is just under five million, three million tourists visit every year, and it could have been a very different story.
Jacinda Ardern explains how New Zealand would attempt to 'flatten' the numbers of infections with an extreme lockdown. Photo / Dave Rowland, Getty Images
The Government publicly released its Covid-19 modelling on March 31, which projected the grim consequences of a lack of early action to curb the spread of the coronavirus, and reinforced the decision to declare a state of emergency and implement a nationwide lockdown.
In the worst-case scenario shown in the modelling, more than two-thirds of the population would get sick, 146,000 people would be hospitalised, 36,600 would need to enter an intensive care unit, and 27,600 would die.
Professor Michael Baker, a New Zealand epidemiologist, said on April 3 the country had the "most decisive and strongest lockdown in the world at the moment" and is "a huge standout as the only Western country that's got an elimination goal" for Covid-19.
Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield during the All of Government Covid-19 update on day nine of the Covid-19 coronavirus lockdown. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The lockdown, in place for less than two weeks, extended so far as to ban surfing, swimming in the sea, and hunting in bushland. Schools were closed. Internal flights banned with a handful of exceptions. The borders closed. The public was urged not to do anything that could divert the attention and resources of emergency services.
New Zealanders have largely adhered to strict guidelines on walking and cycling only within their own neighbourhoods, queuing more than 1.5m apart, and sticking to "one-in, one-out" protocols at grocery shops.
Strict rules on their own don't hold a plan together without the adhesive of leadership. Many have praised Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister, for her clear messaging. Among her admirers is Alistair Campbell, formerly an adviser to Tony Blair.
"Having now watched all the key moments in Prime Minister Ardern's handling of the crisis, I would say she has scored high marks," he wrote in the New Zealand Herald.
Alastair Campbell, former advisor to UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, says New Zealand's leadership had placed the country better than the US and the UK to fight the virus. Photo / supplied
"She gave clarity sadly lacking in the UK about who key workers were, and what essential journeys were… She shared that plan in a way I have never felt the US and UK governments have shared theirs, which has allowed an impression to develop that they are rather making it up as they go along."
The action will come at a cost. In addition to funding a comprehensive assistance package, the New Zealand government is prepared to suffer a significant blow from the loss of tourists.
In 2019 tourism employed one in eight New Zealanders, and international tourism generated an NZ$16.2billion contribution to the country's GDP.
Ardern hasn't sugar-coated her messages. On March 23 she gave the country 48 hours to prepare for the heightened quarantine measures.
"We currently have 102 cases," she said. "But so did Italy once."
