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text by Nick Perry, AP
New Zealand this year achieved a shot to the moon that remains the envy of most other nations: it eliminated the coronavirus.
But the goal was driven by both fear and ambition, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern revealed Wednesday in an interview with The Associated Press. She said the goal stemmed from an early understanding that the nation’s healthcare system simply could not cope with a major outbreak.
And there have been a lot of potholes in the road. When a handful of unexplained cases began to surface in August, Ardern found himself defending wildly exaggerated claims by President Donald Trump, who told crowds at rallies that there was a massive resurgence and that “It’s over for New Zealand. It’s all gone.” .
“Was the word angry?” Ardern said, reflecting on Trump’s comments. He said that while the new cases were deeply concerning, “to be described in this way was a misrepresentation of New Zealand’s position.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
New Zealand’s response to the virus has been one of the most successful, along with actions taken by China, Taiwan and Thailand at the start of the pandemic. The country of 5 million has counted just 25 deaths and succeeded in eradicating the spread of COVID-19, allowing people to return to crowded workplaces, schools and sports stadiums without restrictions.
When the virus began to affect Europe earlier in the year, Ardern said, the only two options countries were considering were herd immunity or flattening the curve. She opted for the latter.
“Originally, that’s where we started, because there just wasn’t much of a view that elimination was possible,” he said.
But his thinking changed quickly.
“I remember my chief scientific advisor brought me a graph that showed me what the flattening of the curve would look like for New Zealand. And where was our hospital and healthcare capacity. And the curve was not below that line. The curve was not enough for us. “
Ardern said he was not concerned that removal might prove impossible, because even if New Zealand didn’t get there, the approach would have saved lives.
“The alternative is to set a lower goal and then still fail,” he said.
Border closures and a strict shutdown in March eliminated the disease, and New Zealand went 102 days without community spread. But then came the August outbreak in Auckland, which remains unexplained but likely originated overseas.
“We thought we had been through the worst. So it was a real psychological blow for people. And I felt that too. It was very, very difficult,” Ardern said.
He said they had modeled different outbreak scenarios, but the one that occurred “was the worst you can imagine.”
That’s because the outbreak had spread to various groups in densely populated areas, he said, and some of those who detected it had been attending large church gatherings. But after a second lockdown in Auckland, New Zealand eradicated the disease again.
Ardern said she felt confident in her answers even though she sometimes felt a touch of impostor syndrome in her leadership role.
“You just have to keep going. There is work to be done,” he said. “Any doubt that you have ever had, as a human being, does not mean that it always results in doubts about what to do.
Two months after the second outbreak, Ardern faced an election campaign. She won an overwhelming second term, with her Liberal Labor Party winning the majority of all votes, something that last happened in New Zealand’s multi-party system in 1951.
After watching President-elect Joe Biden win the US election shortly after, Ardern said he hopes to improve the relationship between the two nations.
She said her job is to build good relationships with all leaders.
“But there is no question that when some of your ideas and values are similar, it is an easier job to do,” he said. “And that is the foundation, I think, on which we will build the relationship with the new president.”
Ardern said he is not afraid to sometimes take a stance against a more aggressive China despite New Zealand’s dependence on Beijing as its biggest trading partner.
“My personal opinion is that we are at a point where we can pose problems,” Ardern said. “We are quite predictable in the fact that we do it. And I think that’s an important part of our independent foreign policy.”
For the world to start getting back to normal, Ardern said, there needs to be comprehensive work to ensure everyone can get vaccinated against COVID-19 and put a vaccine certification process in place that allows people to travel.
He is concerned that the economic impact of the virus is increasing wealth disparity and that New Zealanders have defied previous predictions by sending house prices to new all-time highs.
He said there is a psychology behind New Zealand’s financial obsession with housing that needs to be examined, otherwise “we won’t find out how to get people back to other parts of the economy.”
Ardern said she plans to take time off during the southern hemisphere summer to spend with her fiancé, Clarke Gayford, and their 2-year-old daughter, Neve.
“I’m not doing anything,” he said laughing. “However, I’ll be by the sea. It will be great.”
