The End of the Elimination Strategy : Decisive Factors towards Sustainable Management of COVID-19 in New Zealand

Article Article scientifique Article The End of the Elimination Strategy : Decisive Factors towards Sustainable Management of COVID-19 in New Zealand eng 2022-03-18 2022-03-18 author Blair Alicia Anne 874501 author De Pasquale Mattia Antonio Samuel 808667 author Gabeff Valentin Alexandre Guy 0000-0003-3352-1825 964454 author Rufi Mélanie Laura 880094 Institut universitaire de formation pour l'enseignement (IUFEA) author Flahault Antoine 815316 Institut de santé globale (COSPR) 135-147 10.3390/epidemiologia3010011 36417272 2673-3986 PMC9620908 https://www.mdpi.com/2673-3986/3/1/11 <p>New Zealand has long been praised for the effectiveness of its COVID-19 elimination strategy. It resulted in fewer COVID-19-related deaths, better economic recovery, and less stringent policy measures within its borders compared with other OECD countries, which opted for mitigation or suppression. However, since September 2021, the rising number of infections has not been contained anymore by the contact tracing and self-isolation system in place and the government has shifted towards a policy strategy similar to suppression to manage the crisis. In this case study, we analyse the factors that led the government to switch policy and discuss why elimination became unsustainable to manage the COVID-19 epidemic in New Zealand. Results showed that the socioeconomic and political factors, along with the appearance of new variants and a delayed vaccination program, were accountable for the switch in strategy. This switch allows the country to better adapt to the evolving nature of the disease and to address the social and economic repercussions of the first year of measures. Our conclusion does not disregard elimination as an appropriate initial strategy to contain this pandemic in the absence of a vaccine or treatment, but rather suggests that borders cannot remain closed for long periods of time without creating social, economical, and political issues.</p> COVID-19 New Zealand Elimination Long-term sustainability Strategy Dewey 320 Dewey 613 66 Institut de santé globale 22A1 24 Global Studies Institute 0DJ false 907 Groupe Flahault Antoine 945 https://github.com/owid/covid-19-data/tree/master/public/data Epidemiologia 3 1 7b3fe4df-6f5b-412d-ac8d-b7595e0ad055 Article (Published version) Public Article-scientifique-from-unpaywall.pdf 667437 application/pdf CC BY-4.0 52c2085175ef8b5187c7eb8be56a9a37aab800417932016952dcaaaccbea73aa openAccess Faculté de médecine / Section de médecine clinique / Département de santé et médecine communautaires / Institut de santé globale Centres et instituts / Global Studies Institute

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The End of the Elimination Strategy : Decisive Factors towards Sustainable Management of COVID-19 in New Zealand	Epidemiologia	2022	99	315
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