Phlegmatic vs panicky pandemic government leadership

Another self-isolation...

Open the border!

Peregrine: Thanks for picking me up at the airport on Thursday.

Über: No problem. How’s life on Isolation Island?

Peregrine: Have to say, this is a breeze. Nice to be back in a country where the government handles the pandemic calmly and humanely, treating it as a global challenge, not just a local one.

Über: Not bored with being house-bound?

Peregrine: So much to deal with after being away a year. And I have my daily routines. Exercising, reading, writing, zooming, cooking, sketching, archiving.

Über: All those things you never finished in school?

_________

Voice-over

Some countries handle the pandemic rationally. Others stoke anxiety. The Economist in its February 11 leader: “New Zealand, which has sought to be covid-free by bolting its doors against the world. In this way it has kept registered deaths down to just 25, but such a draconian policy makes no sense as a permanent defence: New Zealand is not North Korea. As vulnerable Kiwis are vaccinated, their country will come under growing pressure to open its borders—and hence to start to tolerate endemic covid-19 infections and deaths.”