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Feats, Flops, and Free Lessons From NZ’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

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  • Joanna M Manning

Abstract

Beginning from the first reports of COVID-19 out of China, this article provides a commentary on the actions taken by the Government of New Zealand in terms of nine themes—a national response with an elimination goal, speed, and comprehensiveness of the initial response; an evidence-based, science-led approach, prioritised on protecting lives; effective communication; leadership style which appealed to collective responsibility and attempted to de-politicise the Government’s response to the virus; flexibility of response characterised by ‘learning as you go’; oversight of coercive state powers, including a pragmatic response which attempted to defuse conflict and reserved use of ‘hard power’ to a last resort; deployment of public health interventions, and health system adaptations; the impact on Māori and marginalised communities; and economic protection and stimulus—to identify factors that might help explain why New Zealand’s pandemic response was successful and those which could have been managed better. The partially successful legal challenge brought to the four-and-a half week lockdown, the most stringent in the world, in Borrowdale v Director-General of Health, is also considered.

Suggested Citation

  • Joanna M Manning, 2021. "Feats, Flops, and Free Lessons From NZ’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic," Medical Law Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 29(3), pages 468-496.
  • Handle: RePEc:oup:medlaw:v:29:y:2021:i:3:p:468-496.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/medlaw/fwab025
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    Cited by:

    1. Nancy Li & Markus Luczak-Roesch & Flavia Donadelli, 2023. "A computational approach to study the gap and barriers between science and policy," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 50(1), pages 15-29.
    2. Patrick Barrett & Jacques Poot, 2023. "Islands, remoteness and effective policy making: Aotearoa New Zealand during the COVID‐19 pandemic," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(3), pages 682-704, April.

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