New Zealand Announces Review Of Handling The COVID-19 Pandemic

Illustration of COVID-19 in New Zealand. (Wikimedia Commons/Alan Tennyson)

JAKARTA - The New Zealand government said on Monday it would launch an investigation into the country's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, so the future government could learn from the experience.

The Royal Commission, New Zealand's highest-level public investigation, will see the overall response, the government said in a statement. That includes considering economic measures, such as fiscal and monetary policy responses, but without reviewing certain central bank decisions.

The goal is to identify lessons that can be learned in dealing with future pandemics.

"It's been more than 100 years since we experienced this scale of the pandemic, so it's very important we structure what works and what we can learn from it if it happens again," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a statement.

New Zealand's rapid response to the pandemic and its geographic isolation, freeing the country largely by COVID-19 until the end of 2021, has won strong domestic support for PM Ardern.

However, anger over vaccine mandates for people working in sectors such as health and education, as well as strict border closures sparked protests earlier this year.

The government's financial response is now also blamed by several opposition political parties, for contributing to high inflation for three decades.

"The review will be completed in mid-2024," the government said.