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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Eva Corlett in Wellington

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

Jacinda Ardern and Dr Ashley Bloomfield the director general in 2021, when they were leading New Zealand's Covid response
Jacinda Ardern and Dr Ashley Bloomfield, the director general, in 2021, when they were leading New Zealand’s Covid response. Photograph: Getty Images

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.

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