Search

Public health lessons from one pandemic become the planning assumptions for the next one. Aotearoa New Zealand's 2017 pandemic plan was derived from past experience of influenza. When Covid-19 emerged as a major global health threat, it took time for the realisation to crystallise that this infection was so different from influenza that it required a completely new pandemic response strategy. In this paper we describe how early evidence about SARS-CoV-2 transmission from China led to the adoption of an elimination strategy in Aotearoa New Zealand, making it the first country to choose elimination as a specific policy response. We discuss how further evidence has shaped the selection and design of Covid-19 pandemic control measures such as border restrictions, case and contact management, hygiene practices and use of face masks, physical distancing, and vaccines. This experience demonstrates the need for a different approach to the design of the next national pandemic plan. We identify key early evidence that will be required to develop a flexible and appropriate public health response to a new pandemic threat. We present a framework for a new pandemic plan that aims to learn from the Covid-19 experience by making as few limiting assumptions as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global pandemic needs to mark a turning point for the peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand. How can we make sure that our culturally diverse nation charts an equitable and sustainable path through and beyond this new world? In a less affluent future, how can we ensure that all New Zealanders have fair access to opportunities? One challenge is to preserve the sense of common purpose so critical to protecting each other in the face of Covid-19. How can we centre what we have learnt about resilience within Māori and wider Pacific communities in our reforms? How can public understanding of Covid-19 science create a platform for the future social valuing of expertise? How can we ensure that the impact of Covid-19 in New Zealand results in a more sustainable, and inclusive workforce – for instance by expanding our perceptions of the value of our workers through promoting digital inclusion? To meet these challenges, we must reimagine our existing traditions of thought, breathing new life into perennial concepts and debates. Our paper indicates some of the ways that Philosophy is central to this collective reimagining, highlighting solutions to be found across our rich philosophical traditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International epidemiological data have emphasised that COVID-19 poses a particular threat to older adults. As media coverage plays an important, direct role in shaping official responses to unfolding crisis situations, the aim of this paper was to analyse the portrayal of older people and COVID-19 by mainstream New Zealand news media. We undertook a qualitative document analysis (QDA) of New Zealand coverage during March 2020. From a total sample pool of 482 articles obtained from the database Knowledgebasket, 91 articles met our inclusion criteria. Our analysis of this coverage found that older people were most often referred to as an nameless, homogeneous 'other' group who were overwhelmingly framed as being at risk and passive. Only a third of articles framed older people as active. Older people's agency and ability to navigate threats to their health and wellbeing were under-represented in news coverage. Coverage stigmatised older people as passive and inherently, rather than situationally, vulnerable and neglected the diversity of their social circumstances and intersecting identities, including ethnicity. We conclude this article with suggestions informed by our findings for promoting equitable media coverage of older New Zealanders' in the context of pandemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 can affect the entire population, but it poses an increased risk for particular population groups. Socioeconomic and demographic factors, as well as long-term health conditions, can make populations vulnerable to adverse health outcomes and mortality related to COVID-19. This study uses geospatial methods to visualise metrics of vulnerability to COVID-19 in New Zealand. Based on Ministry of Health guidelines, nationwide data on risk factors included age, ethnicity, population density, socioeconomic deprivation, smoking, long-term health conditions (cancer, cardiovascular conditions, diabetes, renal conditions, and respiratory illnesses), and health service awareness. Data were sourced from the Census (2018), the New Zealand Deprivation Index (NZDep2018), and the National Minimum Dataset (2011–2016). Factor analysis and bivariate mapping were used to identify areas of high vulnerability. Results demonstrate the unequal social and spatial vulnerabilities to COVID-19 across New Zealand. While some major cities were highlighted many areas also occurred outside of the major cities in smaller communities, which also typically have less access to healthcare and fewer resources. This study has generated data that may help mitigate potential inequality in our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, or indeed for future pandemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical distancing (also commonly known as social distancing) is an important non-pharmaceutical strategy to minimise the risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 virus. A range of restrictions to promote physical distancing form a key part of the Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) all-of-government response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The effectiveness of physical distancing strategies is highly dependent on buy-in and the actions of individuals, households and communities. This NZ population survey was conducted to identify people's views on the effectiveness of various strategies, and factors impacting on their capacity to follow physical distancing requirements during Alert Levels 4, 3, and 2 (April 24th–June 8th 2020). The majority of the 2407 participants were supportive of the public health measures implemented to promote physical distancing across Alert Levels. Few substantial differences were observed in relation to demographic characteristics, suggesting high overall levels of understanding and willingness to adhere to distancing requirements. Around half of the participants reported difficulties practicing physical distancing when in public. Reasons included being an essential worker and challenges related to the behaviour of others. These survey findings highlight the willingness of NZ's population to play their part in eliminating COVID-19 transmission, and the way in which behavioural change was rapidly adopted in line with government requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over forty-nine days of Level 4 and Level 3 lockdown, residents of Aotearoa New Zealand were subject to 'stay home' regulations that restricted physical contact to members of the same social 'bubble'. This article examines their moral decision-making and affective experiences of lockdown, especially when faced with competing responsibilities to adhere to public health regulations, but also to care for themselves or provide support to people outside their bubbles. Our respondents engaged in independent risk assessment, weighing up how best to uphold the 'spirit' of the lockdown even when contravening lockdown regulations; their decisions could, however, lead to acute social rifts. Some respondents – such as those in flatshares and shared childcare arrangements – recounted feeling disempowered from participating in the collective management of risk and responsibility within their bubbles, while essential workers found that anxieties about their workplace exposure to the coronavirus could prevent them from expanding their bubbles in ways they might have liked. The inability to adequately care for oneself or for others thus emerges as a crucial axis of disadvantage, specific to times of lockdown. Policy recommendations regarding lockdown regulations are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]