The Guardian: New Zealand beat Covid-19 by trusting leaders and following advice.

The Guardian, via GGN

By Eleanor Ainge Roy in Queenstown

The secrets to New Zealand's success in eliminating the coronavirus have been revealed by university researchers, who found that compliance with basic hygiene practices and trust in authorities was nearly 100%.

Researchers at Massey University interviewed more than 1.000 people after the lockdown to investigate how New Zealanders reacted to the pandemic.

“We came together as a country, in part because we believed in our policy and health experts, and they delivered,” said Dr. Jagadish Thaker, a professor in Massey University’s school of communication, journalism and marketing.

"Simple and clear health messages, communicated with kindness and empathy, resonate with people, even when they are demanding difficult changes."

A total of 22 people have died in New Zealand from the disease and fewer than 1.500 have been infected, after strict border controls were introduced and a national lockdown came into effect on March 25 – one of the first in the world.

Researchers found that New Zealanders had a high level of knowledge about the disease and how it spread, with eight out of ten respondents saying they frequently washed their hands, while nine out of ten said they practiced social distancing.

"Almost all New Zealanders correctly understand important facts about the coronavirus," the researchers concluded.

“Around nine out of ten New Zealanders are aware of the symptoms, protective behaviors, and asymptomatic transmission. A large majority of New Zealanders have correctly identified false or misleading statements.”

New Zealanders also demonstrated a high level of knowledge that allowed them to dispel some of the common myths about the coronavirus, with 94% of respondents knowing that it was false that only the elderly were infected and that 5G towers were spreading it.

In mid-May, New Zealand began easing lockdown restrictions, and two months later, the country returned to normal, except for the borders that remained closed.

Despite the country's success in eliminating the virus, researchers found that the pandemic significantly impacted the lives of New Zealanders, with nearly one in five reporting that they or a family member lost a job, applied for unemployment benefits, or were unable to pay monthly bills.

Four out of ten respondents also noted that they or a family member had felt depressed or had trouble sleeping.

New Zealand's Indigenous population was disproportionately affected by the crisis, with Maori people twice as likely to report that they or a family member had lost a job, been unable to pay monthly bills, or had signed up for unemployment benefits, compared to Europeans in New Zealand.

The Maori were also more likely to report other economic consequences, distress, or lack of access to adequate medical care during the emergency.

Following the Prime Minister's lockdown, Jacinda Ardern achieved the highest approval ratings of her three-year term and became the most popular leader in a century.

Epidemiologists working on managing the spread of the disease in New Zealand have highlighted her in praise.

“Ardern’s brilliant, decisive and humane leadership was instrumental in New Zealand’s rapid turnaround in its response to Covid-19 and the remarkably efficient implementation of the elimination strategy,” wrote University of Otago epidemiologists Michael Baker and Nick Wilson.

The report found that Ardern and the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Ashley Bloomfield, received near-perfect marks from respondents for their communication and leadership style during the crisis, while the overall dissemination of information was also praised, the researchers found.

"When political will supports science, we save lives," said Thaker.

However, it wasn't all good news. One in three New Zealanders thought the coronavirus was created in a laboratory, while one in four thought that exposure to sunlight or extreme heat could prevent or kill the coronavirus.

Thacker said he found “overwhelming support for reducing or restricting immigration and tourism; seen as a backbone of the economy” is surprising, but he expected the usual positive attitudes of Kiwis to recover once the world learned to better cope with the health crisis.