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William Han

Being Zion is a funny thing.
It’s an archetypal idea, the place of refuge free from whatever threatens or contaminates the rest of the world. Chinese mythology gave us Yaochi, the Emerald Lake on Mount Kunlun, where the mother goddess resides. Hollywood zombie films typically feature a “safe zone”, or the tantalising prospect of one. And the Bible gave us Zion, David’s blessed city. To this list we can now add New Zealand, Aotearoa, “the land of the long white cloud”.
In the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, New Zealand has become a real-life “safe zone”. Led by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, the country closed its borders in March and locked down soon afterwards. In the nomenclature of the new alert system, we went to level 4, the highest, under which most everyone except essential workers had to stay home.
New Zealand begins coronavirus-free life with hugs, shopping and party plans
On Monday, 75 days after initiating level 4 and after throttling down to levels 3 and 2, Ardern announced that New Zealand would now go all the way down to level 1. That’s essentially life as we knew it before we ever heard of the novel coronavirus. The move came right after the country’s last remaining Covid-19 patient recovered, and after 17 straight days of no new cases being detected. All told, the country has had 1,504 confirmed or probable cases, including 22 deaths.
New Zealand is now Covid-free.

There was rejoicing at the announcement. Ardern herself, when she heard that the last Covid-19 patient had recovered, “did a little dance” in her living room, in front of her toddler. Netizens were quick to parody the dance, Photoshopping Ardern’s head onto Hugh Grant’s body in the scene from the film Love Actually in which an exuberant Grant dances through 10 Downing Street.
Schools have returned to normal operation. Businesses already reopened at level 2, but now there is no need even to worry about contact tracing. Signs calling for physical distancing are still ubiquitous in shopping malls, but they are suddenly relics of an earlier time. Doctors’ offices, avoided during the lockdown whenever possible, now again have patients waiting impatiently – without masks.
What makes New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern an authentic leader
Coffee shops have returned to tightly packed seating plans. Want to go dancing? The nightclubs are waiting. Want to see some sports? As of Thursday evening, Eden Park, New Zealand’s largest stadium, had already sold more than 35,000 tickets to this Sunday's rugby match – the first one post-lockdown.
In truth, New Zealanders were already moving to level 1 with or without an official decision. Average citizens could see as easily as cabinet ministers that we were registering zero new cases each day. Ardern’s announcement didn’t so much change reality on the ground as confirm what we already knew: our “team of 5 million” had beaten this thing, at least for now.

And so the shift in everyday manners from level 2 to level 1 was more gradual than abrupt. Passing strangers on the street, we already stopped making a point of sidestepping as though the other person were a leper. Supermarkets and retailers were already growing lax about enforcing distancing.
In the wake of the George Floyd killing in the United States and the ensuing protests, thousands of New Zealanders participated in a solidarity march in downtown Auckland. It was a blatant violation of level 2 rules still in effect banning large gatherings. But authorities made no attempt to stop it, tacitly acknowledging that the rules were going out of date.
Coronavirus: migrant groups warn of ‘humanitarian crisis’ in New Zealand as workers blocked from welfare benefits
All this when global cases have surged past 7 million, and global deaths have exceeded 400,000. In a world buffeted by cataclysmic forces, the relative peace and safety of our island fortress can feel downright indulgent.
Yet a vague spectre still haunts us: can elation become complacency? Being free of Covid-19 means only being free of it until the next case arrives at the international airport. In her level 1 announcement, Ardern underscored that “we are not immune to what is happening in the rest of the world”.

Thus despite the talk of “normality”, one aspect of New Zealand life remains distinctly abnormal: the borders are still closed and will continue to be closed for some time to come. For the tourism sector, then, the Covid-19 crisis continues in economic terms, as its ramifications also continue to play out in the rest of the economy. Tourist towns such as Queenstown and Waitomo face the daunting reality that hardly any foreign visitors will be coming in the foreseeable future.
Seemingly interminably, the government has been negotiating a quarantine-free “travel bubble” with neighbouring Australia and possibly our Pacific brethren like Tonga and Tokelau. But the parties have so far failed to arrive at concrete arrangements.
Australia, New Zealand can reduce China dependence with ‘trans-Tasman travel bubble’
Our lonely fortress needs the rest of our globalised and interdependent world. No country is an island, not even an island country. Any Covid-19 death anywhere diminishes us, because we are involved in mankind. Therefore never ask whom the World Health Organisation statistics are counting: they are counting us.
As proud as New Zealanders are of beating Covid-19, we don’t want to be Zion. We don’t want to be one of the handful of coronavirus-free countries in the world. We want your country to be as safe as ours, so that we can all go back to normal life – together.


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Coronavirus pandemic

New Zealand is a place of refuge from Covid-19. Now for the rest of the world

A windsurfer reels in his kite at New Brighton Beach in Christchurch, New Zealand, a day after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the removal of most coronavirus restrictions. Photo: AP

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND - June 02: Post Cabinet press conference with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. June 02, 2020 in Wellington, New Zealand. (New Zealand Herald Photo by Mark Tantrum) NZH 03Jun20 -

Commuters wait for transport at a bus interchange in Christchurch, New Zealand, Monday, June 8, 2020. New Zealand appears to have completely eradicated the coronavirus, at least for now, after health officials said Monday the last known infected person had recovered. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Crusaders Joe Moody catches a ball during a training session at Rugby Park in Christchurch, New Zealand, Wednesday, May 27, 2020. New Zealand's Super Rugby Aotearoa will start on June 13 in a new five-team, 10-week competition. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Australia, New Zealand can reduce China dependence with ‘trans-Tasman travel bubble’

Container ships are seen at the dockyard in Qingdao, China. Both Australia and New Zealand are heavily dependent on trade with China and the Covid-19 outbreak has highlighted this. Photo: AP

epa08401783 (FILE) - New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (L) and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (R) speak to the media during a press conference at Admiralty House in Sydney, Australia, 28 February 2020 (reissued 05 May 2020). According to media reports, Australia and New Zealand discussed on 05 May about introducing a trans-Tasman bubble to allow travel between the two countries. The plan was set in motion after Ardern reportedly stressed out that the New Zealand border will be closed for a long time, amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. EPA-EFE/BIANCA DE MARCHI AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT

In this April 13, 2020, photo, a worker moves parts for manufacturing gearboxes at the Kofon factory in Huanggang in central China's Hubei province. Chinese leaders have reopened factories and shops in an effort to revive the economy, but the consumers whose spending propels most of China's growth have been slow to return to shopping malls and auto dealerships. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Containers and trucks are seen on a snowy day at an automated container terminal in Qingdao port, Shandong province, China December 10, 2018, Picture take December 10, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. CHINA OUT.

FILE - In this Jan. 28, 2020 file photo, people work on a production line at a factory for medical masks in Hai'an in eastern China's Jiangsu Province. The U.S. ambassador to China Terry Branstad said Wednesday, April 15, 2020, that he doesn't believe Beijing is deliberately blocking exports of personal protective equipment and medical supplies, adding that the shipment of 1,200 tons of such products to the U.S. could not have been possible without Chinese support. (Chinatopix via AP, File)

Coronavirus: migrant groups warn of ‘humanitarian crisis’ in New Zealand as workers blocked from welfare benefits

A view of Auckland city from Devonport. Photo: Shutterstock

Workers are seen at a construction site as level four COVID-19 restrictions are eased in Christchurch, New Zealand, Tuesday, April 28, 2020. New Zealand eased its strict lockdown restrictions to level three at midnight to open up certain sections of the economy but social distancing rules will still apply. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern addresses a press conference after the 2020 budget at Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand, Thursday, May 14, 2020. New Zealand's government plans to borrow and spend vast amounts of money as it tries to keep unemployment below 10% in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. (Hagen Hopkins/Pool Photo via AP)

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters during his media conference at Parliament, Wellington, on Day 8 of the Covid-19 coronavirus level 3 alert lockdown. 05 May, 2020. New Zealand Herald photograph by Mark Mitchell NZH 06May20 -

Pedestrians in Wellington, New Zealand. Photo: AFP

New Zealand begins coronavirus-free life with hugs, shopping and party plans

NZ PM Jacinda Ardern. Photo: Bloomberg

Customers and employees are seen inside a cafe on the first day of all New Zealand domestic regulations being lifted for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Nelson, New Zealand, June 9, 2020. REUTERS/Tatsiana Chypsanava NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

Adults supervise as school children play on the first day of all New Zealand domestic regulations being lifted for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Nelson, New Zealand, June 9, 2020. REUTERS/Tatsiana Chypsanava NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES.

People enjoy time outdoors at New Brighton Beach in Christchurch on June 9, 2020. Photo: AP

This Week in Asia

Opinion

Comment

Coronavirus

Analysis & Opinion

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, the country is now virus-free, and its borders will remain closed for some time to come
But the ‘lonely fortress’ needs the rest of the globalised and interdependent world, and its residents want for us all to go back to a normal life


Under the leadership of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, the country is now virus-free – but the ‘lonely fortress’ needs the rest of the globalised and interdependent world.


Coronavirus pandemic: All stories

New Zealand

Hugh Grant

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


Opinion | New Zealand is a place of refuge from Covid-19. Now for the rest of the world

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, the country is now virus-free, and its borders will remain closed for some time to come But the ‘lonely fortress’ needs the rest of the globalised and interdependent world, and its residents want for us all to go back to a normal life

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, the country is now virus-free, and its borders will remain closed for some time to come

But the ‘lonely fortress’ needs the rest of the globalised and interdependent world, and its residents want for us all to go back to a normal life