New Zealand Covid response among world’s best but ‘scars’ remain, inquiry finds

Royal commission says response led by Jacinda Ardern was broadly appropriate', in a wide-ranging report featuring recommendations for future pandemics

A royal commission into New Zealand's Covid response has found it was one of the best in the world but acknowledged the period had left scars".

The second of two inquiry reports on the pandemic was released on Tuesday and focused on the period between February 2021 to October 2022, when the government changed from an elimination strategy to one of suppression and minimisation of the virus. It also examined vaccine safety and the government's immunisation programme, lockdowns and tracing and testing technology.