Yes, she must surely rank at the top of the heap of western leaders. Here in British Columbia, we have very roughly the same population but whereas NZ has had twelve deaths because Ardern took early and decisive action based on the science, we've had 86 deaths because of hand-wringing and indecision.
I think that is being a bit harsh on BC - it is looking pretty good compared to basically all the rest of North America; not perfect, but acted sensibly for the most part.
Yes, but considering eg the shitshow down south or in Quebec, that is damning it with faint praise. The fact remains that BC has seven times the deaths of New Zealand.
One thing BC has in its favour is a reasonably common-sense population that more or less understands the gravity of the situation, particularly the Chinese community. People have been good with social distancing and so forth. But BC Parks should have closed sooner, Bonnie Henry should not have been encouraging people to "continue to go to Whistler", and so forth.
Are the 86 deaths attestable only to the BC premier? Or could it also be the fault of the federal government?
Presumably the leader of a small nation has a wider latitude for action to them than the leader of a similarly sized region which is contained in a larger country.
BC dragged its feet on implementing a lockdown, the federal government had to be dragged kicking and screaming into closing its borders. Travelers from China weren't even quarantined throughout February, for instance.
Anecdotally, I have heard that Chinese-Canadian communities took the issue seriously on their own, and started practicing social distancing in February... Which may well have helped.
It's looking better than Ontario and Quebec, but it could have looked even better, had it acted sooner.
It was a Chinese Canadian family who reported to BC Health that a family member who went back to China had tested positive. The individual had visited two health clinics in BC with symptoms, and was dismissed, before going back to China at the end of the trip. I believe this was one of the first 3 cases reported in BC. This was commendable and very forward thinking of the family. Many times there is a stigma in Eastern countries about being the early carrier of disease etc.
>Unlike the countries that declared "war on Covid-19", the government's message was that of a country coming together. It urged people to "Unite Against Covid-19". Ms Ardern has repeatedly called the country "our team of five million".
The wonders of having a young woman in charge rather than a testosterone-laden septuagenarian. Being German I'm also glad Merkel is in charge over here and her measured response rather than banging on the war drums reassured me as well.
Second female leader to have a baby while in office!
All that in less than 3 years being elected at a young age. Just wow!