COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand

The COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand was part of the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first case of the disease in New Zealand was reported on 28 February 2020.

In response to the first outbreak in late February 2020, the New Zealand Government closed the country's borders and imposed lockdown restrictions. A four-tier alert level system was introduced on 21 March 2020 to manage the outbreak within New Zealand. After a two-month nationwide lockdown, the country went for several months without any new cases.

In August 2021, New Zealand entered nationwide lockdown due to a new case in Auckland. The Government worked to give more vaccinations to people across the country. In September 2022, the Government ended some rules about vaccines and masks. On 15 August 2023, the Government ended all remaining COVID-19 rules.

Background

Main article: COVID-19 pandemic

On January 12, 2020, health experts found a new virus called SARS-CoV-2. This virus caused an illness named COVID-19. It was first found in a group of people in Wuhan, Hubei, in China. Health authorities were told about it on December 31, 2019.

This virus spread more easily than a serious outbreak from 2003. But it was less likely to make people very sick. A professor from a research center in London, which works with the World Health Organization, explained this.

Transmission timeline

Main articles: Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand (2020), Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand (2021), and Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand (2022)

In February 2020, New Zealand had its first case of COVID-19. It was a woman in her 60s who had visited Iran. Cases increased quickly, and by the end of March, there were over 600 cases and the first death.

Cases kept rising through 2020 and 2021, mostly at the border or in small community groups. By the end of 2021, there were over 14,000 cases with more than 12,000 recoveries and 51 deaths. In early 2022, cases rose very fast, reaching over 100,000 by the end of February. This was partly because of delays in testing and faster testing methods.

Responses

Central government responses

The New Zealand Government responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by setting up a National Health Coordination Centre. In early February 2020, the Government stopped most travelers from China from entering the country. The Government also helped bring citizens and residents home from Wuhan.

Because of rising cases from travel and within the country, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern closed the country's borders to people who were not citizens or residents on March 19, 2020. On March 21, the Government started a four-level alert system, which led to a lockdown for much of the country from March 25. Because of the Government's success in reducing the spread of COVID-19, lockdown rules were slowly lifted starting on April 28, then on May 11, May 25, and June 8. The lifting of Alert Level 1 rules on June 8 ended social distancing and lockdowns but kept border rules in place.

On August 11, 2020, the Government brought back lockdown rules after a second outbreak of cases in Auckland. Because cases went down, lockdown rules in Auckland and the rest of New Zealand were ended on August 30, September 23, and October 7, 2020. In early November, the Government required travelers entering New Zealand to book a place in managed isolation before they traveled.

In mid-December 2020, the Government announced plans to create travel bubbles with the Cook Islands and Australia in 2021.

After a new outbreak in South Auckland's Papatoetoe suburb on February 14, 2021, the Government put Auckland under Alert Level 3 and the rest of the country under Alert Level 2 until February 17. On February 17, Auckland's rules were lowered to Alert Level 2 while the rest of the country went back to Alert Level 1. On February 22, the Government said Auckland would go back to Alert Level 1 on February 22.

Because of new cases connected to the Auckland February cluster, the Government put Auckland under Alert Level 3 and the rest of the country under Alert Level 2 starting February 28, 2021, for seven days.

After a new outbreak in Auckland in August 2021, the Government brought back Alert Level 4 rules on August 17, 2021. Because of rising cases in Auckland and parts of the North Island, the Government changed from its elimination strategy to speeding up the country's vaccination program. The "alert level system" was replaced by the COVID-19 Protection Framework ("traffic light system"), which started on December 3. The Government also started a COVID-19 vaccination pass system, which began on November 16, 2021. On November 23, the Government passed the COVID-19 Response (Vaccinations) Legislation Act 2021, which gave a legal framework for the "traffic light system" and vaccine rules for certain jobs.

On January 17, 2022, the Government started its vaccination program for children aged five to 12 years. In late January, the Government also started a three-step plan to stop the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant based on tracking contacts, testing, and self-isolation. On February 3, the Government also started a five-step plan to open New Zealand's borders during 2022. On March 23, the Government ended several "traffic light" rules including limits on public gatherings, vaccine pass rules, vaccine requirements for most jobs, and QR code scanning requirements. In May 2022, the Government also sped up opening the border for various work, visitor, and student visa groups. In mid-September 2022, the Government ended the "traffic light system," ending most remaining COVID-19 mask, vaccine, and close contact isolation rules and restrictions.

In mid-October 2022, the Government ended several parts of the COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020 including its powers to do lockdowns, managed isolation and quarantine, border closures, vaccine passes and rules. The Government decided to keep the Act's rules for seven-day isolation periods, mask use and border entry rules until Parliament passed new, general pandemic laws. The Government also ended the Epidemic Notice, showing a change from emergency management to long-term management of COVID-19. Also, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said the Government would hold a Royal Commission of Inquiry into its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Genome sequencing

During the new outbreak of COVID-19 cases in Auckland in August 2020, genome sequencing was noted as a "new tool" in the Government's plan to manage the pandemic. Ashley Bloomfield said "we are also doing genome sequencing on all those who have tested positive and our recent cases and current cases in managed isolation and quarantine". A phylodynamics specialist said that compared to the first outbreak when only 25 people out of about 1000 were sequenced, "mapping the genetic sequences of the virus from confirmed COVID-19 cases to track its spread – is now an important part of New Zealand's coronavirus response. It is giving more certainty in finding clusters and helps focus the work of contact tracers." Bloomfield said that sequencing will give information about how the outbreak started and Jemma Geoghegan, a senior lecturer in viral evolution at the University of Otago who was working on genome sequencing with the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR), told Radio New Zealand:

By comparing the genomes of the new cases to those from the isolation facilities as well as the global population and the other cases in New Zealand, we can start to understand how long that chain of transmission potentially is, and likely guess when that virus came into New Zealand and first arrived.

When an Air New Zealand crew member tested positive for COVID-19 in November 2020, Joel de Ligt, a scientist at ESR, said that while he was fairly sure the sequencing had given a good picture of what was happening across the country, there was still a small chance that there was something in the community not found. Specific sequencing of the genomes of the air crew member would show whether it was linked to a New Zealand genome, or related to information from sequencing overseas, making it "more likely that it is what we call a travel-related infection, where we might start to look more closely at the airports, or the airlines involved with the movements of a certain person." Geoghegan stressed the importance of genome sequencing in cases such as returning air crew, which was later used to show a case of in-flight transmission.

Local and regional governmental responses

On March 20, the Auckland Council closed all public libraries, swimming pools, and recreation centers, including the Auckland Art Gallery and the New Zealand Maritime Museum.

On March 21, several local councils in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Lower Hutt and Porirua announced the closing of public places including swimming pools, libraries, recreation centers, community centers, art galleries, and museums.

On March 24, the Auckland Council said they would close their campgrounds and the Canterbury Regional Council said that they would also close New Zealand Motor Caravan Association camping grounds within 48 hours.

Auckland Council said on April 14 that it would ask for special money for some infrastructure projects that had been stopped because of lockdown.

On April 15, several Otago mayors including mayor of Dunedin Aaron Hawkins, Central Otago District mayor Tim Cadogan, Queenstown Lakes District mayor Jim Boult, Clutha District mayor Bryan Cadogan, Waitaki District mayor Gary Kircher and Otago Regional Council chair Marian Hobbs were giving part of their salaries to local charities to help with coronavirus pandemic relief efforts. Also, several Dunedin City Council officials including chief executive Sue Bidrose said they would take pay cuts to help their local communities deal with the effects of COVID-19.

On July 10, the Auckland Council said it would cut 500 permanent jobs because of the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On August 27, Auckland councillor Efeso Collins asked for the Government to give an amnesty to people who had stayed longer on their visas than allowed in order to encourage members of the Pasifika community to come forward for COVID-19 tests. The Health Minister Chris Hipkins told the Pasifika community that the Government would not use any information collected during testing for immigration reasons. Collins asked Pacific community leaders, church leaders and health experts to tell overstayers to get tested for COVID-19 without fear of punishment.

On November 12, Mayor of Auckland Phil Goff and local health officials asked people in the Auckland CBD area to work from home after finding a community transmission case who worked at the A-Z Collections shop on Auckland's High St in the city center. Goff also criticized the store's owner for supposedly telling the employee to come to work while she was waiting for test results for her COVID-19 test. The store owner said Goff's story was not true, explaining that the employee had called on Tuesday to say she had a sore throat and would see a doctor. The next day, the shop worker gave a statement criticizing health officials who interviewed her for not giving her a Chinese language translator, causing wrong information about where she had been, what she had done, and who she had been with. Because of this wrong information, her employer and their families got nasty messages online.

On November 2, 2021, Far North District Mayor John Carter supported the Government's choice to put a Level 3 lockdown on the northern part of the Northland Region after two undetected cases. He asked people to get tested and vaccinated.

Health sector responses

On March 19, the medical recruitment company MedWorld asked for retired and part-time doctors to help the health sector and Government stop the spread of COVID-19.

On June 10, St John New Zealand, which gives ambulance and first aid services, said it would have to let staff go because of a $30 million deficit caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization had also tried to get the Government's wage help money but was told that it was not eligible for it even though its money had dropped by 40%.

On August 27, Pasifika GP Network member Api Talemaitoga said that the Government's Testing Strategy Group would try to make sure that members of the Māori and Pasifika communities would have fair access to testing. These steps include offering free testing, mobile testing centers and doctors who could translate. Health officials have also tried to tell members of these communities that they would not lose their jobs because they got COVID-19.

After the Delta community outbreak in mid-August 2021, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) said they were worried about the mental and physical health of nurses, midwives, and healthcare helpers; not enough supplies of personal protective equipment and a lack of mask fitting tests. In mid-September 2021, the NZNO challenged the Auckland District Health Board's "free-for-all" visitor policy through the Employment Relations Authority. The NZNO said that the Health Board's rule of allowing two visitors during the Delta outbreak was a health risk to patients and staff.

In October 2021, Pharmac made an agreement with supplier Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) to buy the experimental antiviral pill molnupiravir. If approved by Medsafe, Pharmac will get 60,000 courses of the pill, which would be used to treat New Zealanders with mild to medium Covid-19 symptoms. In November, Pharmac got 500 doses of baricitinib, an oral tablet that helps people who are in hospital do better, and bought Ronapreve (also known as Regeneron), a monoclonal antibody.

From September 2021, the Ministry of Health started giving money to district health boards for the Support in Isolation/Quarantine (SIQ) program with the goal of making local quarantine places to help those who could not isolate at home in " community-based bubbles." The SIQ program was started because of rising community cases and plans to open the border in 2022. New Zealand has said it will slowly open its borders as it starts to end some of the world's strictest Covid rules. Vaccinated Australian citizens will be able to come home on February 27 without having to go through the state's required hotel quarantine. Vaccinated citizens from other countries will be allowed in starting March 13, according to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. People will still have to self-isolate for 10 days, but they will be able to do so at home.

In mid-October 2021, the Health Ministry gave NZ$120,000 to the Wairarapa District Health Board to make local SIQ places. Also, other district health boards including the Taranaki District Health Board, the Auckland District Health Board, the Southern District Health Board, and the Whanganui District Health Board have made plans to make their own SIQ places at various changed hotels and holiday parks.

On February 17, 2022, laboratory workers, contact tracers and other important health staff who were part of the Public Service Association (PSA) said they would not accept a pay offer from the district health boards and would go on strike twice in March 2022. The workers wanted more money, to be treated the same as other health jobs, and safe staffing and keeping workers. Union spokesperson Will Matthews said the planned strikes came after 15 months of failed talks with the district health boards. In mid-February 2022, the Institute of Medical Laboratory Science, the national group for laboratory workers, said that many workers were tired from working in bad conditions for the past two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Workers said they did not have enough office and rest space because of extra testing machines in their laboratories.

In mid-May 2022, 10,000 allied health workers went on strike across New Zealand after failed talks with DHBs about pay and working conditions. The PSA's strike action was supported by the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS), the New Zealand Dental Association (NZDA) and the NZ Council of Trade Unions (CTU).

In early June 2022, the Dunedin Hospital was closed to visitors after an outbreak of COVID-19 in its wards.

Economic impact

Up until March 2020, New Zealand had a mixed economy – a free market with some state ownership and control. Even though they were suddenly not as important in the New Zealand economy, business leaders kept getting reported in the media: asking against differences in different industries, giving regular checks on business confidence and economic outlooks, and wanting to get back to "business as usual" soon.

On September 17, 2020, New Zealand's economy officially went into a recession, with the country's gross domestic product going down by 12.2% in the June quarter because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The retail, places to stay, hospitality, and transportation areas were hurt by the international travel ban and a strict nationwide lockdown.

Social impact

The COVID-19 pandemic had a big effect on New Zealand society, with important effects on education, faith groups, holidays, Māori, big gatherings, sports and fun activities. Reports about the spread of COVID-19 led to a lot of demand for face masks and hand sanitisers.

Education

After COVID-19 spread at several schools, the Government closed all schools, early childhood centers and universities on March 23, 2020 as part of the nationwide lockdown. Also, on May 13, the end-of-year high school National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) exams were moved to mid-November 2020. Several universities got criticized for still charging rent to students who had gone home to their families.

Faith communities

Because of COVID-19 coming into New Zealand, several faith groups said they would stop or reduce public meetings in answer to the Government's ban on meetings with more than 100 people. Because butcher shops were closed under Alert Level 4, members of the Muslim community had trouble getting halal food. When the lockdown level was first lowered to Alert Level 2 on May 14, religious meetings were first limited to ten people, which got criticism from the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ), Catholic bishops, and Bishop Brian Tamaki of Destiny Church. After the criticism, the Government raised the limit on religious services from ten to 100 people, letting many faith groups start having big meetings again. In September 2020, Christian leaders Pacific Response Coordination Team chairman Pakilau Manase Lua and Wesleyan Methodist minister Frank Ritchie worried about wrong information about COVID-19 going around among New Zealand church members going to churches with links to conservative evangelical and Pentecostal churches in the United States.

Māori

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Māori communities in the Northland, East Cape, and Bay of Plenty areas of the North Island made road blocks to try to stop the virus from spreading. These checkpoints caused some tension in the community and were thought to be not allowed by the Government and New Zealand Police, which said they did not have the right to do this. After a new community outbreak in Auckland in late January 2021, Northland Māori including Reuben Taipari and old politician Hone Harawira made an unchecked checkpoint, which was shut down by the police.

Mass gatherings

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, big gatherings were not allowed to follow social distancing rules to fight the virus. In answer, the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services' Association stopped all ANZAC Day services and red poppy collections for 2020. After the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, which caused protests around the world, Black Lives Matter protests were held in several big cities including Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch in early June 2020. These protests were criticized by several health and political leaders including Siouxsie Wiles, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters, and ACT Party leader David Seymour for not following social distancing rules. Also, anti-lockdown protests happened between August and September 2020.

Because of travel and social distancing rules because of COVID-19, several sports and fun events including the Super Rugby season and the 2020 Warbirds Over Wanaka airshow were stopped in mid-March 2020.

After a new community outbreak in South Auckland in mid-February 2021, the Halberg Awards were moved to follow Alert Level 3 rules on big gatherings. Also, Napier's Art Deco Festival and Auckland's Gay Pride parade were cancelled. Auckland's Splore festival was moved to March 26–28, 2021.

In February 2022, on the grounds of New Zealand's parliament, police gave trespass notices to anti-vaccine protesters who had spent two nights camping there without permission. More than 50 were arrested.

Pacific Islanders

Left-wing writer Martyn "Bomber" Bradbury has asked that the Government give an amnesty for people who have stayed longer on their visas than allowed and give money to people who could not work from home in order to help the Pacific Islander communities in South Auckland.

Travel

The COVID-19 pandemic had a big effect on travel to and from New Zealand. In 2020, the New Zealand Government worked with airlines and tour groups to bring New Zealanders home who were stuck in various places overseas including China, Peru, Australia, Uruguay, Fiji, and India. On March 24, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said there were about 80,000 New Zealanders stuck overseas, of whom 17,000 had told the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade's "Safe Travel" program. After a fast rise in COVID-19 cases in India in April 2021, many New Zealand citizens and people on temporary visas living there were stuck because of border rules and no flights.

The COVID-19 pandemic also affected many foreign travelers and people on temporary visas in New Zealand. Because of travel rules because of COVID-19, the New Zealand Government automatically made all temporary visas last longer until September 25, 2020, which was later made longer to February 2021. Also, the Government also made help for living costs last longer and money for living costs to stuck foreign workers and other people on temporary visas who could not leave New Zealand. Even with border rules, the Government let in certain important and needed workers as well as people going to the trial of the Christchurch mosque shooter Brenton Tarrant and a British family trying to sell their boat after their son's death.

Several foreign governments including the United Kingdom, Germany, and Denmark also set up charter flights to bring their citizens home from New Zealand. Also, international airlines like Lufthansa and Qatar Airways helped set up repatriation flights from New Zealand. By May 13, Foreign Minister Peters said that 50,000 migrant workers had gone back to their home countries after work by the New Zealand Government and foreign embassies to set up repatriation flights.

On May 9, 2021, Radio New Zealand and Stuff reported that the Government had spent NZ$6 million to bring New Zealanders home who had been stuck overseas at various places including Wuhan, India and Peru since the start of the pandemic. On May 28, 2021, it was also reported that the Government had spent $112,000 out of a $900,000 amount to bring migrants home who could not pay for flight tickets back to their home countries during the pandemic. Also, the Government had spent $11 million on getting migrants to come during the pandemic. Also, the Government had spent $242 million in February 2021 to fix a hole in immigration's visa money, which still left a $56 million hole.

On August 11, 2021, the Strategic Covid-19 Public Health Advisory Group led by Professor David Skegg said that the country should take a step-by-step plan to open its border in 2022 if most New Zealanders had been vaccinated. Under suggested plans, travelers could not go into managed isolation based on risk things such as their vaccination status and the state of the pandemic in their home country. Other ideas include testing travelers before they leave and quick testing for travelers when they arrive in New Zealand.

After the Delta community outbreak in mid-August 2021, the Police were criticized by Northland Māori iwi and leaders including old politician Hone Harawira for taking more than a week to put up fixed checkpoints between Northland and Auckland after the country went into an Alert Level 4 lockdown. The Level 4 announcement on August 17 had caused a lot of people from Auckland to go into the Northland area. Other Northland people criticized the different places of Police checkpoints near the Brynderwyn Hills, Kaiwaka and Mangawhai which made it hard for people to go to important places like grocery stores.

Because of the fast spread of the Omicron variant, the Government put off the planned opening of the country's border to February 2022, made pre-departure testing requirements last longer, and made the stay at managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) places last ten more days.

On February 3, 2022, Ardern said a five-step plan to open the country's borders:

1. From 11.59pm on February 27, New Zealanders and other eligible travelers from Australia would be able to self-isolate for ten days.
2. From 11.59pm on March 13, New Zealanders and other eligible travelers from overseas including skilled workers and working holiday visa holders would be able to self-isolate for seven days.
3. From 11.59pm, April 12, most people on temporary visas, 5,000 international students and important workers would be able to self-isolate for seven days.
4. From July 2022, anyone from Australia, travelers who did not need a visa, and skilled workers would be able to enter the country without having to isolate.
5. From October 2022, the border would be open to all people who needed a visa.

Under this plan, vaccinated New Zealanders and eligible travelers would be able to go into self-isolation and have testing when they arrive instead of having to go into MIQ places. Unvaccinated travelers would still have to go into MIQ places.

On February 28, 2022, the New Zealand Government made the opening of the country's borders faster:

1. From 11:59 pm on March 2, vaccinated travelers would not have to self-isolate.
2. From 11:59 pm on March 4, New Zealanders and other eligible important workers would be able to enter the country without self-isolating.
3. From March 13, most people on temporary visa types including working holiday visa and seasonal workers would not have to self-isolate.

On May 3, 2022, the Government made travel rules easier to let unvaccinated people who needed a visa, permanent residents, and Australian citizens living in New Zealand enter the country without going through managed isolation. In mid-May, the Government made opening New Zealand's borders faster:

1. From May 16, visitors from the Pacific Islands can ask for visitor visas.
2. From July 4, all work visas can enter the country.
3. From July 31, all visitors and students who needed visas and cruise ships can enter the country.

International responses

On September 8, 2020, the Secretary-General of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom praised New Zealand's response to the COVID-19 pandemic along with several other countries including Cambodia, Japan, South Korea, Rwanda, Senegal, Spain, and Vietnam.

On October 28, Hoover Institution senior fellow Victor Davis Hanson criticized Prime Minister Ardern's rule that people going through managed isolation had to be tested to leave on Fox News's The Ingraham Angle while the show's host Laura Ingraham compared MIQ places to coronavirus "quarantine camps". Hanson and Ingraham got reports from New Zealand media commentators including The Spinoff's Alex Braee, who said their comments were like former United Kingdom Independence Party politician Suzanne Evans' comments comparing New Zealand's lockdown rules to Nazi Germany. Newshub's Jamie Ensor said that Ingraham's comments were wrong, explaining that the camps were really nice hotels and motels.

Court rulings

In May 2020, a High Court judge let a man from the United Kingdom see his very sick father. This was even though the rules said everyone had to stay in a special place for 14 days after arriving from another country. The leader of New Zealand asked a health leader to check 24 cases where people could not see family who were very sick.

Later, in August 2020, a court said the government's message telling people to stay at home at the start of the lockdown was right but not allowed by law. The government changed the law a few days later. A lawyer had challenged the government's actions in court. The country's top law leader defended what the government did and did not say if they would fight the court's decision.

Vaccination efforts

Main article: COVID-19 vaccination in New Zealand

In October 2020, the New Zealand Government agreed to buy millions of doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. They also set aside money to help with the vaccine program.

In February 2021, the government allowed the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to be used in New Zealand for people aged 16 and older. The first people to get the vaccine were nurses. The plan was to vaccinate health workers, important workers, and those most at risk first, then the general public later in the year. On October 16, 2021, New Zealand held a special event called “Super Saturday” to encourage people to get vaccinated, and many people came out to get their shots that day.

Public opinion

Government response approval

In early 2020, many people in New Zealand were happy with how the government handled COVID-19. As time went on, feelings changed a bit, especially during long lockdowns.

Vaccine mandates

In 2021, most people supported rules that required some workers, like health staff and teachers, to get COVID-19 vaccines.

Media perception

News outlets around the world praised New Zealand's leader, Jacinda Ardern, for her clear communication and quick actions during the pandemic. Some local journalists faced criticism for their tough questions during press conferences.

Restriction levels

Alert level system

Main article: COVID-19 alert levels in New Zealand

From March 2020 to December 2021, New Zealand used a system with four levels to help stop the spread of the disease. In the easiest level, there were no rules. In the next level, big groups were not allowed. In the stricter level, only necessary travel was allowed and groups were very small. In the strictest level, only essential travel was allowed and no groups were permitted.

Traffic light system

Main article: COVID-19 Protection Framework

On 15 October 2021, the leader of New Zealand said the country would change from the four-level system to a new "traffic light" system. This three-level system looks at how many people are vaccinated to decide which rules to use. The leader later said the country would start using this system on 3 December. Some areas, like Auckland, began with stricter rules (Red), while other areas started with less strict rules (Orange). The three levels are Red when hospitals might get too busy, Orange when hospitals are busy, and Green when hospitals can handle patients well.

Support bubble

Early in the pandemic, New Zealand created the idea of a "support bubble." A bubble is a small group of people you spend time close to. In a bubble, people do not need to keep far apart from each other. The whole bubble is treated like one family.

Long-term effects

In April 2020, New Zealand’s government worried the country might lose many jobs if lockdown rules stayed for four weeks. Before the lockdown, only 4.2% of people were without jobs. By November 2021, the jobless rate had dropped to 3.4%, which was the lowest it had ever been.

The country’s economy shrank in 2020, especially in areas like travel and building. By 2024, studies showed that New Zealand’s plan to stop the virus early helped keep deaths low until vaccines were ready. However, when rules relaxed and a new virus version spread, deaths went up in 2022. Some groups, like Māori and Pasifika people, had more deaths because of harder living conditions and less access to help.

Post-pandemic

New Zealand faced economic challenges starting in mid-2023 partly because of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In July 2023, the country announced a Royal Commission to review how the pandemic was handled.

In November 2024, the Royal Commission shared its first report. It found that measures like lockdowns and vaccine requirements helped slow the spread of the virus. However, these actions, along with false information, affected people's trust in the government. The report also noted that repeated lockdowns in Auckland had impacts on the local economy, health, and certain groups such as Māori, Pasifika, lower-income individuals, and students. The report highlighted the important role of Māori and other community groups in supporting people during this time.

Testing

In early March 2020, people were worried that COVID-19 tests were only for those who showed symptoms and had traveled from certain places or been in contact with someone sick. Some people with symptoms who did not meet these rules were not tested.

To qualify for a COVID-19 test, a person needed to have symptoms like a cough, sore throat, trouble breathing, or a runny nose, with or without a fever. Later, testing rules changed to include people who traveled, had close contact with a sick person, healthcare workers with a certain lung infection, or those in intensive care with serious breathing problems. Doctors could also decide to test others based on their judgment.

In August 2021, some workers at quarantine places asked for regular testing, but their requests were ignored. By July 2021, only half of the required tests before leaving for New Zealand were being checked due to limited resources. In September 2021, a health group in Auckland and Wellington started using a type of test using saliva instead of nose swabs. By February 2022, New Zealand received many quick test kits to send to testing centers, doctors, and pharmacies.

As of November 2021, over 4.6 million tests had been done. The group with the most tests done per person was Pacific people, followed by Asian, Māori, and European/MELAA/Other groups. Random testing in supermarkets in April 2020 showed no spread of the virus at that time.

Statistics

During the COVID-19 pandemic, New Zealand had many cases of the illness. The cases affected people in different groups.

The pandemic created clusters, where cases were linked together. These clusters were tracked and managed. For example, a large cluster in Auckland had many cases. Other clusters happened in places like rest homes, schools, and community events. By controlling these clusters, New Zealand managed the spread of the virus.

Sadly, some people in New Zealand passed away because of COVID-19. Experts said that New Zealand's steps to control the virus, like lockdowns and vaccinations, helped protect many lives.