An Irish newspaper has slammed the New Zealand government's decision to move up the alert levels, saying it will be fatal for the economy.
"So, on the basis of four members of the one family contracting the disease, an entire city of 1.6 million people was placed back in lockdown. Is this not madness?" The Irish Times reporter Eoin Burke-Kennedy said.
Burke-Kennedy agreed with New Zealand's policies around testing and contact tracing and supported Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's press conference communications. But he rubbished the recent change in alert levels saying it was a "recipe for economic disaster."
Burke-Kennedy suggested that following New Zealand's lead on lockdowns would turn Ireland's recession into a depression and trigger a higher number of suicides.
New Zealand and Ireland have similar population sizes - 4.8 million and 4.9 million. But the highest daily cases number only reached 89, whereas in Ireland they were hitting more than 800 per day.
Ireland has had 1,773 deaths, while New Zealand reported 22.
Burke-Kennedy was realistic about the nature of the virus.
"Even severe containment measures won’t eliminate the virus. New Zealand has just proved that. Talk of a vaccine is premature. When Ireland fully opens up, the virus will still be circulating around the globe and much of the population here will face a renewed risk of infection."
But only time will tell whether the government's decision around alert level changes is the right one for both the economy and the population's health.
