Australia and New Zealand cannot hide from covid-19 for ever
The countries need a plan for reopening to the world
LAST MONTH Six60, a mystifyingly popular Kiwi band, played a gig for a real, flesh-and-blood audience of 50,000 people. “Next time they tell you it’s impossible,” the band wrote online, “Show them this.” Alongside was a photo of the sort of crowds unseen in most of the world since early 2020.
Kiwis and Australians can enjoy what used to be known as normal life because they have almost eliminated the novel coronavirus. Neither country has had many local transmissions this year. Restaurants and bars are busy. Provincial towns bustle with domestic tourists.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline "Tall borders"
Asia May 22nd 2021
- Opposition to the Tokyo Olympics is intensifying in Japan
- Australia and New Zealand cannot hide from covid-19 for ever
- Why are hundreds of huge stone jars scattered across north-east Laos?
- Samoa’s long-serving prime minister is struggling to cling to power
- As a second wave devastates India, Narendra Modi vanishes
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