US vs. New Zealand: A Comparison of COVID Responses
BY N. RAZBAN '23
Ten and a half million cases and over two-hundred thousand deaths from COVID-19 in America. Months and months of soaring case graphs with no clear end in sight. The United States, along with the rest of world, is suffering through difficult times. The differentiating factor, however, is how poorly our government has dealt with the virus. America is the wealthiest country in the world, yet the numbers stated above are disproportionately large for such an economically prosperous nation.
The United States has fared much worse in terms of COVID deaths than New Zealand, a country whose GDP ranks 51st in the world. Further comparison between the two countries reveals that the United States’ high death toll was caused by our government's disregard of the scientific community and persistent misinformation regarding the virus’s severity.
In New Zealand, the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, worked closely with her nation’s scientific community. When she first announced the lockdown in March, Ardern stated that “science and leadership have to go together.” This intertwinement is evident in the way Ashley Bloomfield, New Zealand’s Director-General of Health, spoke at Ardern's Press conferences when he explained how the country was faring in terms of contamination and suggested a lockdown to contain the virus’ spread. Bloomfield’s clear rationale for confinement encouraged people to follow lockdown orders.
The US, on the other hand, took an entirely different route. President Trump openly spoke against the US’s leading epidemiologist, Dr. Fauci, in-person and on social media, where he retweeted content with the hashtag “#firefauci.” Moreover, many of Trump's statements and videos have been removed from Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube after violating the platforms' misinformation policies. By spreading false information and downplaying the severity of the virus, Trump influenced many civilians to disregard health measures.
The US has clearly done much worse than New Zealand, but a direct analysis of the numbers from Our World in Data truly displays the American government’s mishandling of the virus. New Zealand experienced 5.18 deaths per million people from March 13th to October 12th. In the same time frame and scale, the US has suffered an appalling 648.85 deaths per million people. This astonishing difference between the US and New Zealand stemmed from our government's dismissive attitude towards the virus.
Furthermore, Trump shared a conspiracy theory that stated that the CDC, the media, and the doctors were lying about COVID-19 to hurt his chances of being re-elected. With Trump spreading skepticism in civilians' minds, Americans were not nearly as concerned about the virus as they should have been.
Perhaps, though, these huge differences in death toll were caused by the differences between New Zealand’s constitutional monarchy and the US’s cooperative federalism. The latter refers to a type of government in which states impose their own laws based on the federal government’s recommendations. Therefore, the US as a nation is not as unified, since each state acts as its own “country” with unique laws and regulations. However, New Zealand and America’s differing government system does not undermine the legitimacy of the comparison. In fact, the federal government did not encourage COVID-19 regulations, so states had no federal health recommendations to follow. It is clear that the US government’s reaction, rather than its structure, is to blame for the lives the virus has taken.
Finally, the nonpartisan New England Journal of Medicine has spoken out against the way the US government has handled the virus. After staying out of politics for over two centuries, the journal denounced Trump for “recklessly [squandering] lives” in its October 8th editorial this year.
Ultimately, due to the US’s lack of cooperation with scientific professionals, millions of lives have been lost. Despite having the means to do so, the United States failed its most important job: to protect the people of this nation. Hopefully, change will come soon, because only then will the citizens of this nation get through this devastating time.
The United States has fared much worse in terms of COVID deaths than New Zealand, a country whose GDP ranks 51st in the world. Further comparison between the two countries reveals that the United States’ high death toll was caused by our government's disregard of the scientific community and persistent misinformation regarding the virus’s severity.
In New Zealand, the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, worked closely with her nation’s scientific community. When she first announced the lockdown in March, Ardern stated that “science and leadership have to go together.” This intertwinement is evident in the way Ashley Bloomfield, New Zealand’s Director-General of Health, spoke at Ardern's Press conferences when he explained how the country was faring in terms of contamination and suggested a lockdown to contain the virus’ spread. Bloomfield’s clear rationale for confinement encouraged people to follow lockdown orders.
The US, on the other hand, took an entirely different route. President Trump openly spoke against the US’s leading epidemiologist, Dr. Fauci, in-person and on social media, where he retweeted content with the hashtag “#firefauci.” Moreover, many of Trump's statements and videos have been removed from Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube after violating the platforms' misinformation policies. By spreading false information and downplaying the severity of the virus, Trump influenced many civilians to disregard health measures.
The US has clearly done much worse than New Zealand, but a direct analysis of the numbers from Our World in Data truly displays the American government’s mishandling of the virus. New Zealand experienced 5.18 deaths per million people from March 13th to October 12th. In the same time frame and scale, the US has suffered an appalling 648.85 deaths per million people. This astonishing difference between the US and New Zealand stemmed from our government's dismissive attitude towards the virus.
Furthermore, Trump shared a conspiracy theory that stated that the CDC, the media, and the doctors were lying about COVID-19 to hurt his chances of being re-elected. With Trump spreading skepticism in civilians' minds, Americans were not nearly as concerned about the virus as they should have been.
Perhaps, though, these huge differences in death toll were caused by the differences between New Zealand’s constitutional monarchy and the US’s cooperative federalism. The latter refers to a type of government in which states impose their own laws based on the federal government’s recommendations. Therefore, the US as a nation is not as unified, since each state acts as its own “country” with unique laws and regulations. However, New Zealand and America’s differing government system does not undermine the legitimacy of the comparison. In fact, the federal government did not encourage COVID-19 regulations, so states had no federal health recommendations to follow. It is clear that the US government’s reaction, rather than its structure, is to blame for the lives the virus has taken.
Finally, the nonpartisan New England Journal of Medicine has spoken out against the way the US government has handled the virus. After staying out of politics for over two centuries, the journal denounced Trump for “recklessly [squandering] lives” in its October 8th editorial this year.
Ultimately, due to the US’s lack of cooperation with scientific professionals, millions of lives have been lost. Despite having the means to do so, the United States failed its most important job: to protect the people of this nation. Hopefully, change will come soon, because only then will the citizens of this nation get through this devastating time.
