Originally Posted by LumberJack

"Part of the nation's success laid in the fact that its Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern instituted a strict, country-wide lockdown for six weeks in March before the country had even recorded any COVID-19 deaths.

During the six-week lockdown, the country's top officials quickly closed its borders to any non-citizens and required any New Zealander returning from foreign travel to self-quarantine. Officials also created an extensive system of regular testing and contact tracing for its citizens to help contain the virus after the lockdown ended.

Polls showed that roughly 80 percent of the nation's citizens backed the lockdown, despite some political critics stating that the measures had worsened people's mental health and delivered a blow to the nation's tourist-reliant economy"