If there was trumpeting (which would be unusual for kiwis - our culture has tall-poppy syndrome. Some quiet smugness would be more usual) then it was for “going

If there was trumpeting (which would be unusual for kiwis - our culture has tall-poppy syndrome. Some quiet smugness would be more usual) then it was for “going hard” and then having months of zero cases. Our lockdown was one of the strictest in the world, yet had pretty damn high compliance. The proudness we felt was that “team New Zealand” had achieved something difficult, and with some grace. Now we have a new cluster the original message is only reinforced —- we go hard and early and get back to zero ASAP. A sports team doesn’t think you only have to win one match. (Another pathology of Kiwi culture is framing everything through sports metaphors). As for having it in easy-mode, you’re absolutely right. We’re lucky in many ways, COVID-related and otherwise. One thing that will remain difficult is that our economy had a pretty large tourism sector, so deciding to have completely closed borders (to non-citizens, essentially) isn’t an easy choice.