Coronavirus: New Zealand got caught out by the 'euphoria' of beating Covid-19

After being described by the New York Times and Daily Mail as being the “envy of the world”, New Zealand well and truly fell off its pedestal with the alert levels changing after the discovery of community transmission. Gorman said New Zealand was not prepared for such a fall, as queues once again formed at supermarkets, panic buying resumed, health centre phone lines and inboxes were clogged with Covid-19 test requests, and medical staff were hassled and abused for their sudden sluggishness which did not exist the day before. The air fell heavy again as New Zealand, like the rest of the world, continued with the battle. “Our tendency to keep telling ourselves how well we had done left us poorly placed the second time around,” Gorman said.