Sweden was a bit of an outlier though. Most younger Swedes live alone. And they tend to follow government advisories. New Zealand’s strategy was stellar, particularly early on in the pandemic. You could do what you want. I remember we were out having concerts as if there was no pandemic, thanks to the zero COVID strategy. But by late-Delta, early-Omicron, zero COVID could not longer be sustained, and it was clear only mitigations would stick. The government hoped to eliminate it like they did the other times, but it was just impossible then, people had become complacent. But yes, on the healthcare-side and economic-side, NZ fared better than Sweden.
I’m sure that played a part of the early response. But then we were also lucky that, it didn’t initially spread on our shores early on. So the initial first lockdown, and a few subsequent ones, were short and sweet. But then the later ones, we got a bit complacent. It was also when the conspiracies and anti-vax movement was taking off…
Sweden was a bit of an outlier though. Most younger Swedes live alone. And they tend to follow government advisories. New Zealand’s strategy was stellar, particularly early on in the pandemic. You could do what you want. I remember we were out having concerts as if there was no pandemic, thanks to the zero COVID strategy. But by late-Delta, early-Omicron, zero COVID could not longer be sustained, and it was clear only mitigations would stick. The government hoped to eliminate it like they did the other times, but it was just impossible then, people had become complacent. But yes, on the healthcare-side and economic-side, NZ fared better than Sweden.
Thanks, I’d forgotten how well NZ had done. I wonder if the SARS epidemic made them better prepared compared to Europe.
The only pandemic threats I recall in the UK was bird and swine flu.
I’m sure that played a part of the early response. But then we were also lucky that, it didn’t initially spread on our shores early on. So the initial first lockdown, and a few subsequent ones, were short and sweet. But then the later ones, we got a bit complacent. It was also when the conspiracies and anti-vax movement was taking off…