Source: Radio New Zealand
Central Auckland on 25 August 2021 on day eight of a Covid-19 lockdown. RNZ / John Edens
The second phase of the Covid-19 response inquiry has found the government’s response was effective but late and not communicated well enough to people.
The country’s transition from its early elimination strategy to suppression and minimisation was “far from smooth”, with consequences like the Auckland lockdown going on longer than needed at the end of 2021, the report, released on Tuesday said.
The second phase tested if the government took a balanced approach and found it largely did, but said the public was not brought on board – and must be in the next pandemic, with one of the 24 recommendations made today that there should be more open decision making in future around the impacts on people’s isolation, health and incomes.
“The evidence shows these factors were considered when many decisions were made. Ideally, though, decision-makers would have been better supported with clearer, more specific evidence about the effects of public health measures,” said the 530-plus-page report by the Royal Commission of Inquiry.
“More comprehensive and robust response strategies should have been in preparation much earlier.”
Public divisions and anger over the pandemic response in part prompted the second phase begun in December 2022, amid questions if phase one had gone far enough. Phase two was a bit shorter and more focused especially on how Covid mandates were rolled out.
The second report echoed the first in finding the early elimination strategy saved lives but the country was not well prepared; as the inquiry chair said in 2024, “The wheels became a bit wobbly.”
The government is now considering both phase one and two recommendations.
Health Minister Simeon Brown will table the government’s responses to them all, as required, by July.
The report itself described how the country got into a cul-de-sac on Covid.
Officials should have started working on a suppression strategy much earlier in 2021, but did not look at alternatives so it became hard to stop and rethink, it said.
“Strategies should have considered a range of scenarios (such as an uncontained community outbreak or new strains of COVID-19) and options to address them.
“They should also have identified the trade-offs to be considered if such scenarios arose.”
It looked in depth at whether the government got enough advice especially around the potentially divisive impacts of responses on social cohesion, health and businesses among other things.
“These key decisions involved some very significant and far-reaching uses of government power to limit the ability of New Zealanders to move about, meet with others, and to attend public events,” said the report.
Brown in a media briefing on Tuesday focused in on what he said were the findings that the previous government ignored evidence, advice and warnings, and so chose bad options around vaccines, the length of lockdown restrictions and mistargeted economic stimulus.
“Options were available to end restrictions earlier, options were available to not have as stimulus an economic response, and ultimately New Zealanders are paying the price of that still today,” he said.
Phase two looked at four areas of pandemic response from February 2021 to October 2022:
- vaccine approval and safety.
- vaccine mandates, including the introduction of the Vaccination Assessment Tool and vaccine passes.
- national and regional lockdowns.
- the procurement, development and distribution of testing and tracing technologies.
“These topics, and the time period covered … capture some of the most difficult and divisive elements of New Zealand’s pandemic response,” the report said.
Phase two unpacked four broad lessons by making 24 recommendations.
The four lessons were:
- To improve systems that promote good decision-making by the government.
- To enact legislation for pandemics as the key guard-rail for rights and freedoms.
- Do more shock-proofing of government economic policies.
- Set up research into pandemic responses to communicate clearly to the public.
The 24 recommendations for the government and agencies included:
- Develop options before “the next pandemic” for income and business support during one.
- Develop clear legislation for managing future pandemics that clearly defines the scope and limits of emergency powers.
- Publish advice about how human rights might be impacted.
- Look at establishing a new strategy body at the core of government that can improve the data about impacts on people from pandemic measures.
- Produce regulatory impact statements in future pandemics, and update the Cabinet rules so pandemic decisions get reviewed.
- Present any elimination strategies as temporary from the start.
- Research unconventional monetary policies in case of a big shock.
- Research into how to get back to normal.
- Be open with the public about decision-making in a pandemic.
- Get an agency to look at how to build trust and social cohesion.
Brown stressed at the media briefing the Auckland lockdown went on too long despite Cabinet having options to end it earlier in late 2021.
Economic warnings from Treasury “were not heeded”, he said in a statement, with the commission finding about half the $60 billion Covid response and recovery fund stimulus was not related to the pandemic; so-called shovel-ready infrastructure projects were not ready.
He said Labour’s health minister Ayesha Verrall should have done more to question the Health Ministry around the advice it had about vaccine risks for 12-17 year olds.
The ministry was advised against applying a two-dose vaccine mandate to them due to myocarditis risks but that mandate carried on.
He called on Hipkins and Verrall to explain.
“The reality is Chris Hipkins stood up every single day and he said to New Zealanders that he was making decisions based on advice by health officials. That’s what he told us.
“The reality is, in a number of these instances, he was not. And only now that this report has been released do we find out that he was not making those decisions on the basis of health advice.”
RNZ approached the Labour MPs for a response.
In a statement, Hipkins said their decisions were “considered, appropriate, and guided by the best evidence available at the time”.
“Ministers and officials were making decisions in an unprecedented global crisis, using the best evidence available at the time. These decisions helped protect New Zealanders.”
The key was to use the lessons, but instead over the past two years the government had cut public health capability while commissioning multiple reviews that repeated the same conclusions, he said.
The second phase gathered evidence for 15 months. Jacinda Ardern, Chris Hipkins and Grant Robertson all refused to appear at public hearings but said they had provided ample evidence privately to the commission.
In a joint statement Jacinda Ardern and Grant Robertson said the findings of the second phase of the report were similar to the first.
“We got a lot right. More than most. But there are areas that could have been better.
“While in office we established the Royal Commission to independently compile what worked, and what we could learn from. We accept the overall findings and recommendations of both reports.
The job now is to ensure NZ is better prepared for the next pandemic. We join the Commission in urging the Government to take the findings of both reports and implement them as a matter of urgency.
“The Commission’s observation – ‘there is no scenario in which NZ – or any other country – could have confronted the pandemic without some cost’ will be just as true for the next time. Our best safeguard is to ensure we are as well prepared as we can be.
“Over the last four years, we have fully cooperated with both phases of the inquiry, including many hours of interviews, and wish to extend our thanks to the Royal Commission staff for their important work on behalf of New Zealand.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
