Originally Posted by
SqKiwi
I am not sure why New Zealand is pursuing an elimination strategy. It comes at a high cost (~10% of GDP if international travel resumes elsewhere, but not in NZ) and was based on some assumptions around the spread of the virus which now no longer hold e.g. the measures that 'stop the spread' which have the most effect are banning large gatherings, physical distancing and good hygiene. Plus good testing and tracing. None of these require limitations on international travel, but do recognize that cases will occur from time to time and need to be managed. Just like any other infectious disease.
One possible consideration is because pandemics are not equal opportunity killers. For example, the Influenza pandemic in 1918 witnessed mortality rates four times greater for the indigenous populations of New Zealand, Australia and the USA compared to the rest of their national populations. In (Western) Samoa 22% of the population died in a few weeks after it arrived there.*
In the USA Covid-19 is hitting African-Americans much harder than European-Americans and it likely would have the same effect in New Zealand with Maori and other Polynesian populations.
I think New Zealand is, in part, trying to protect its Maori and Pacific Islands populations.
*This information on the 1918 influenze pandemic is from
Pandemics: A Very Short Introduction from Oxford University Press.