학술논문
Improvements and Persisting Challenges in COVID-19 Response Compared with 1918–19 Influenza Pandemic Response, New Zealand (Aotearoa)
Document Type
article
Author
Source
Emerging Infectious Diseases, Vol 29, Iss 9, Pp 1827-1836 (2023)
Subject
Language
English
ISSN
1080-6040
1080-6059
1080-6059
Abstract
Exploring the results of the COVID-19 response in New Zealand (Aotearoa) is warranted so that insights can inform future pandemic planning. We compared the COVID-19 response in New Zealand to that for the more severe 1918–19 influenza pandemic. Both pandemics were caused by respiratory viruses, but the 1918–19 pandemic was short, intense, and yielded a higher mortality rate. The government and societal responses to COVID-19 were vastly superior; responses had a clear strategic direction and included a highly effective elimination strategy, border restrictions, minimal community spread for 20 months, successful vaccination rollout, and strong central government support. Both pandemics involved a whole-of-government response, community mobilization, and use of public health and social measures. Nevertheless, lessons from 1918–19 on the necessity of action to prevent inequities among different social groups were not fully learned, as demonstrated by the COVID-19 response and its ongoing unequal health outcomes in New Zealand.