B.4 Stringency of public health and social measures

What we experienced, whilst low in terms of morbidity and mortality impacts through 2020 and 2021, was not without costs. International borders were closed – other than arrivals through managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ). Liberties were curtailed and lockdowns were used. The Oxford Stringency Index was developed during the pandemic to compare levels of restriction (e.g. closure of schools and workplaces, limits on gatherings) across countries and over time. Where a country (or a region within a country) is in ‘lockdown’, the stringency index is higher. Figure 4 shows the stringency index for Aotearoa New Zealand and comparator countries through 2020–2022. New Zealand stands out in two ways. First, New Zealand had notably high stringency when lockdowns were in place (national lockdowns in March/April 2020, and August 2021 and regional (mostly Auckland) lockdowns in August 2020, February 2021 and August to December 2021ⁱⁱⁱ). That is, New Zealand took a ‘go hard’ approach to enacting an elimination strategy. Second, New Zealand had long periods of very low stringency between lockdowns. Moreover, compared to all other jurisdictions except Taiwan the average level of stringency over time, and the amount of time at high stringency, was less in New Zealand. This lesser overall stringency for New Zealand was even more the case outside of Auckland.

Figure 4: Oxford stringency index for New Zealand and comparator countries, 2020 to 2022 inclusive

Source: Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford – with minor processing by Our World in Data, (2023), COVID-19: Stringency Index (New Zealand, Australia, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States and Sweden), https://ourworldindata.org/metrics-explained-covid19-stringency-index

The stringency index is a composite measure based on nine response indicators including school closures, workplace closures and travel bans, rescaled to a value from 0 to 100 (100 = strictest).¹⁵ Stringency index data at Our World in Data is not available beyond 2022.