Covid-19: Princeton University Study Analyzes New Zealand’s Pandemic Response

Social capital has been hailed as one of the reasons behind New Zealand’s successful response to the Covid-19 pandemic, new research from Princeton University suggests.

Stuff The reports were among bodies of work based on the analysis by the Innovations for Successful Societies research center, which examined the March-June response from Princeton researchers, including New Zealand-born Blair Cameron.

The investigation said Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her response team “always acted swiftly” during the pandemic, choosing to make “fundamental decisions that were sometimes based on limited information.”

In the early stages of the pandemic, government analyst Clinton Watson, who was involved in setting the alert level system, told investigators there was no time to work on lengthy political processes to defend the country’s response.

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“The process was atypical; The standard departmental consultation was sidelined … we had to make some direct decisions and move on to avoid a total calamity, ”Watson said.

Strong leaders, both elected politicians and public officials, played “important roles in successful communications.”

The investigation cited John Walsh, who spearheaded the communication effort, describing Health Director Dr. Ashley Bloomfield as a “remarkable communicator.”

Governments are great machines, but people look at individuals. At Dr. Bloomfield, New Zealanders saw someone they trusted, someone they could relate to, and someone they could trust, ”Walsh said.

Ardern’s leadership was also praised, with comments from the University of Otago public health professor Michael Baker to the BBC mentioned, describing her as a “brilliant communicator and empathetic leader.”

The investigation praised Ardern for choosing to elevate the role of scientists during the pandemic.

“She greatly relieved her scientific advisers, epidemiologists and infectious disease experts, and asked them for policy recommendations,” the investigation reads.

Social capital and effective communication were essential to gain acceptance from everyday New Zealanders, particularly when it came to public health messages and enforcement of the blockade.

Because the situation was changing rapidly, the Covid-19 website became a reliable source of data. On the day New Zealand went from Level 2 to Level 3, traffic on the site jumped from 7,000 to 27,000 people in two seconds.

“We never wanted to scold New Zealanders. We wanted to be firm but empathetic throughout the entire process, ”Walsh said.

With this in mind, the government filed a response bot prototype for the website because the machine lacked human qualities.

“We were very concerned about his ability to get the tone wrong and to misinterpret sensitive questions. We were concerned about their ability to listen and be adequately empathetic when people showed signs of stress through their questions. We didn’t want to be wrong, ”Walsh said.

But while much of the investigation praised New Zealand’s response, it was not without its criticism.

The investigation highlighted a lack of coordination when it came to resourcing laboratories with Covid-19 test supplies, as well as holes in the PPE supply chain and difficulties in creating a cloud-based platform for tracking contacts.

Included were comments made by epidemiologist Sir David Skegg to the Epidemic Response Committee, where he described the country’s health system as “neglected for decades” and chronically underfunded.

“Public health experts said New Zealand could have been better prepared, for example, if it had a better funded healthcare sector with more intensive care beds and better systems to prepare for disease outbreaks,” the statement read.