An Australian economic journalist has slammed New Zealand's Covid-19 response, saying it shouldn't be promoted as a "role model" of how to approach the potentially deadly virus.
Adam Creighton's article - titled "If New Zealand's the coronavirus role model then we're in strife" - was published on The Australian news website today.
"New Zealand is held out as a role model, but it's a small, remote country. Its biggest industry, tourism, has been ruined, and at some point its citizens may want to come and go," Creighton writes.
"The question is whether a civilisation that put man on the moon a half-century ago could have come up with a more targeted way of protecting the elderly and vulnerable than causing a downturn so serious forecasting has become impossible."
The economic journalist referenced a study published in medical journal The Lancet which disputes the efficacy of full lockdowns and border closures.
"Observing a decline in deaths or case numbers after a government took a sledgehammer to its economy says nothing about the effectiveness. Pointing to New Zealand in rapture proves nothing," Creighton wrote.
"In fact, there's no reliable relationship between lockdowns and viral trajectories across countries."
His comments come as Victoria recorded a record daily high 725 new Covid-19 cases and 15 more deaths.
New Zealand's last case of community transmission was 96 days ago.
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