Auckland mayor Phil Goff said he was "mystified" over Donald Trump's claims that New Zealand has had a surge in Covid-19 cases. Photo / Michael Craig
Auckland mayor Phil Goff said he was "mystified" over Donald Trump's claims that New Zealand has had a surge in Covid-19 cases. Photo / Michael Craig
Auckland mayor Phil Goff said he was "mystified" over Donald Trump's claims that New Zealand has had a surge in Covid-19 cases.
His comments come after the embattled US President took aim at New Zealand for a third time this week, branding yesterday's five new cases as a "massive break out".
Speaking to CNN about the reintroduction of Covid-19 in New Zealand, Goff said our country is one of the best performing the world before revealing he was baffled by Trump's comments.
"We were somewhat mystified as we often are with President Trump's comments," he said.
When asked what advice he had for other countries having issues with Covid-19 outbreaks, Goff said there was a false notion that you either protect the country's health or its economy.
"I think the United States ... when we adjust the population, the fatality rates are 50 to 100 times more per head of population than in New Zealand," he said.
"We went to contain the virus and then to start to recover the economy and for the time we dropped back to level 1 the economy was recovering very quickly.
"[The new cases and lockdown are] a setback, but we will get through it."
I spoke to Zain Asher from CNN about New Zealand's COVID-19 response and the recent outbreak in Auckland. Contrary to what US President Donald Trump has asserted, New Zealand isn't undergoing a surge of the virus––so far the lockdown in Auckland appears to be having the desired effect.
Now we just need to keep up the good work: maintaining physical distancing, staying local, regular handwashing and taking tests if advised to do so.
We've beaten COVID-19 once by working together, and we will beat it again. #TogetherWeCan
Trump made the comments on New Zealand's Covid-19 cases while speaking to a crowd in Pennsylvania.
"You look at our mortality rates, you look at all the things but they like to compare us to others so they were talking about New Zealand.
"New Zealand, New Zealand, it's over for New Zealand, everything's gone, it's all over - they're beautiful," said Trump, referencing the global acclaim New Zealand received for its response.
"They had a massive break out yesterday."
Yesterday, he said that his critics were using Kiwi success at fighting Covid-19 to make him look bad.
"New Zealand, by the way, had a big outbreak, and other countries that were held up to try and make us look not as good as we should look, and we've done an incredible job," he claimed.
"They're having a lot of outbreaks, but they'll be able to put them out, and we'll be able put them out."
Those comments followed others made to a crowd in Mankato, Minnesota.
"You see what's going on in New Zealand?" Trump said.
"They beat it, they beat, it was like front page [news], they beat it because they wanted to show me something."
"The problem is [there is a] big surge in New Zealand, you know it's terrible - we don't want that.
"This is an invisible enemy, that should have never been let to come to this country, to Europe to the rest of the world, by China, just remember it," he said.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Trump's claims were "patently wrong".
"Obviously I don't think there's any comparison between New Zealand's current cluster and the tens of thousands of cases being seen daily in the United States," Ardern said.
"Obviously, every country is experiencing its own fight with Covid-19; it is a tricky virus, but not one where I would compare New Zealand's current status to the United States."
