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On Reflection | New Zealand looks to be winning the coronavirus war, but does Jacinda Ardern deserve the plaudits?
- While the prime minister has won international adulation for her crisis leadership, her government has had its missteps
- New Zealand’s strong social cohesion and high trust in government raise the hope the disease can be beaten without draconian measures
Reading Time:5 minutes
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It was Thursday, April 9. New Zealand was at the halfway point of its four-week lockdown. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was holding her Covid-19 press conference, now a near-daily ritual.
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Dr Ashley Bloomfield, 54, the country’s ectomorphic, quietly unflappable director-general of health, had just reported the day’s numbers: 29 new cases and 35 recoveries. Every afternoon, New Zealanders anxiously watched as the numbers were announced.
“You are breaking the chain of transmission,” Ardern (or Jacinda, as we mostly call her) said in commendation to her compatriots.
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But then she began to plead with the public. Now was not the time for complacency, she said. “While most are doing the right thing, some are not.”
The impending Easter weekend was clearly weighing on her. Easter commemorates Jesus’ death and resurrection, and has long been a major holiday in a country where Christianity is the most common religion.
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