New Zealand has marked 100 days with no recorded cases of the coronavirus in the community, but health officials there have warned there was no room for complacency.
There are still 23 active cases but all were detected at the border when entering the country and are being held in managed isolation facilities.
"Achieving 100 days without community transmission is a significant milestone, however, as we all know, we can't afford to be complacent," New Zealand's director-general of health Ashley Bloomfield said.
"We have seen overseas how quickly the virus can re-emerge and spread in places where it was previously under control, and we need to be prepared to quickly stamp out any future cases in New Zealand."
New Zealand, with a population of five million, has won widespread praise for its effective handling of the coronavirus since closing its borders on 19 March.
The World Health Organization hailed the country as an example to others for having "successfully eliminated community transmission".
Since the first patient was diagnosed in February, there have been 1,219 confirmed cases of the virus in New Zealand with the last case of community transmission recorded on 1 May.
As a result, New Zealanders are enjoying a near-normal, pre-coronavirus lifestyle with no social distancing and spectators allowed at sports and cultural events - but with the border strictly controlled and all arrivals required to spend 14 days in quarantine.
The government has maintained the prospect of a second wave remains a possibility and is pushing for all households to keep emergency supply kits including masks.
Meanwhile New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has kicked off her Labour Party's election campaign while riding high in the opinion polls following her successful response to the coronavirus outbreak.
The charismatic 40-year-old's popularity as preferred prime minister - often referred to as "Jacindamania" - topped 60% in the latest surveys following her leadership through the Christchurch mosque attacks, the White Island volcanic eruption and the pandemic.
Before the virus forced New Zealand to seal its borders, the polls had pointed to a cliffhanger election on 19 September.
But support swung sharply towards the centre-left Labour Party as the country eliminated community transmission in a matter on months.
"When people ask, is this a Covid election, my answer is yes, it is," Ms Ardern said as she launched the campaign with a €174 million pledge to boost jobs.
"Businesses large and small are crucial to our economic recovery," she told supporters.
Labour is the senior partner in a three-party coalition government but if it can maintain the support shown in recent opinion polls, it could govern alone after the election.
Jacinda Ardern was an unheralded MP when thrust into the Labour leadership shortly before the 2017 election when the party was struggling and "there were plenty who thought it couldn't (win)," she said.
"If you had told me then that our launch in 2020 would be in the midst of a global pandemic with our borders closed - I would have found that very hard to fathom."
