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Aotearoa, New Zealand's (NZ) initial pandemic response has been held up internationally as a model of social cohesion and compassion, made salient by the 'team of five million' messaging promoted by the New Zealand government. This paper considers whether the first New Zealand COVID-19 lockdown was viewed and experienced as socially cohesive from the perspective of diverse older New Zealanders. This study presents a deductive analysis based on 44 individual or group interviews with Māori, Pacific, Chinese, Korean and New Zealand European (NZE) people aged 60 and over. This paper presents a critical, intersectional discussion around social cohesion experienced by older New Zealanders during lockdown, by considering their views and experiences of belongingness, legitimacy, recognition, inclusion and participation. We suggest that New Zealand European participants benefited most from national appeals for solidarity and reported enhanced feelings of belongingness and inclusion. Māori, Chinese, Korean and Pacific experienced belongingness and inclusion primarily on a community level owing to the culturally-specific support they received. We conclude that future pandemic planning should aim to strengthen targeted culturally-specific community initiatives already in action whilst improving aspects of inclusion and participation for all older New Zealanders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of information technology during the COVID-19 pandemic raises significant questions around the protection of personal data in a disaster. This paper considers how the clear benefits of using and sharing such data in disaster scenarios can be achieved while recognising an individual's right to privacy through examining the experiences of Taiwan and New Zealand. These states represent two successful COVID-19 response strategies which utilised different approaches to the use of technology. In Taiwan, the response made significant use of personal data and information technology. New Zealand, by contrast, has relied upon stringent lockdowns and extreme limits upon personal freedoms. The paper considers the different approaches to data and privacy that underpinned these responses and considers whether New Zealand can learn from the Taiwanese experience in future disaster planning. In doing so, the paper concludes by examining the wider question of when and if the community's expectation of a safe environment should trump the rights of individuals to retain personal data both in the context of pandemics and in other emergency or disaster scenarios. It also raises deeper questions, exposed by the COVID-19 response, about whether our current approach to privacy is sustainable in the digital age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 has forced us to think critically about alternative global and local response strategies to the unprecedented devastation. Some of the most infected groups are Pacific communities and this has raised concern about the need to seriously address the issue of health and socio-economic inequality. One way of doing this is through social protection. The paper critically examines some of the conventional notions of social protection, especially those predicated on market-imperatives and assumptions and argues for new and community-relevant innovative social protection strategies to effectively mitigate the effects of COVID-19. It then discusses the integrated social protection approach (ISPA). The paper argues that while ISPA is an attempt to create an alternative, inclusive and participatory social protection strategy, the issues of equity in terms of distribution of resources and power still need to be fully addressed because of their potential to cause tension within the community. The meaningful participation and empowerment of the Pacific communities and the strategic use of their cultural norms in social protection framing and implementation are important in building up resilience and sustainability to mitigate effectively against the sudden onset of pandemics such as COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments around the world have responded to the COVID-19 outbreak with a mix of policies. The strictest responses of the New Zealand government are notable, given their abilities to contain and limit the spread of the virus. However, their impacts on stock returns remain unclear. This paper investigates the impact of three policies, namely lockdown, the stimulus package, and the travel ban, on the returns of 14 New Zealand industry stock indices. Using daily data from 1 January 2019 to 25 August 2020, evidence points to a heightened level of integration among the various industry stock indices during the early stages of the pandemic. Only lockdown has had a positive impact on aggregate stock returns, suggesting its ability to raise investors' confidence in the overall stock market. At the industry level, the impact of the three response policies is generally positive but heterogeneous across industry stock indices. Notably, none of the three adopted policies significantly impact technology, healthcare, and real estate returns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

News media have an important social role during times of disruption including national emergencies. This paper bears witness to the 21 New Zealanders who died during the first lockdown due to COVID-19 by critically examining the nature of their portrayal in mainstream newspapers. We searched Knowledgebasket for newspapers published between 28 February 2020 and 13 May 2020 relating to COVID-19 deaths. Of the 147 included articles, 50 were selected for in-depth thematic analysis. Our key finding is that COVID-19 made the death of ordinary older New Zealanders newsworthy, albeit in a way that distinguished individuals by residential status. This is reflected in the themes identified: (1) Unexpected community deaths; (2) Inevitable aged residential care deaths; (3) Justification for lockdown measures. We conclude that New Zealand journalists played an important advocacy role in justifying New Zealand's 'go hard go early' approach through the largely compassionate coverage of older people's deaths. [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]

The aim of this paper is to outline the impact Coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 has had on health research in New Zealand. We used data from the University of Otago, Christchurch, a research intensive satellite campus of the University of Otago with a large number of research only grant funded staff to highlight challenges and opportunities. All non-COVID-19 related laboratory and clinical research was suspended under New Zealand COVID-19 alert level 4 and the majority under level 3. To date, researchers predict that 95% of research projects have been affected. During the periods of lockdown research salaries continued to be paid from grants resulting in a 'salary gap' to support research staff (both academic and technical). Most funders have indicated there will be no additional funding to support researchers affected by the delays. Early and mid-career researchers have been particularly affected and are currently unable to travel for post-doctoral training and networking. A more robust career structure with adequate funding, particularly for early and mid-career researchers is required to ensure that New Zealand has a stable research work force to address the next health crisis. [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]

Between February and May 2020, New Zealand recorded 1504 cases of COVID-19 before eliminating community transmission of the virus in June 2020. During this period, a series of control measures were used including population-wide interventions implemented via a four-level alert system, border restrictions, and a test, trace, and isolate system. Mathematical modelling played a key role in informing the government response and guiding policy development. In this paper, we describe the development of a stochastic mathematical model for the transmission and control of COVID-19 in New Zealand. This includes features such as superspreading, case under-ascertainment, testing and reporting delays, and population-wide and case-targeted control measures. We show how the model was calibrated to New Zealand and international data. We describe how the model was used to compare the effects of various interventions in reducing spread of the virus and to estimate the probability of elimination. We conclude with a discussion of the policy-modelling interface and preparedness for future epidemic outbreaks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]