New Zealand has now gone 100 days with no detected community spread of COVID-19, the Ministry of Health confirmed in an emailed statement Sunday afternoon local time.

Why It Matters: New Zealanders are going to the polls on Sept. 19. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been widely praised for her leadership that saw NZ lock down hard for several weeks before all domestic restrictions were lifted in June. She sees her government’s response to and recovery from the coronavirus outbreak as key to her Labour Party being re-elected.

“When people ask, is this a Covid election, my answer is yes, it is.”

— Ardern’s news briefing remarks