6. Question No. 6—COVID-19 ResponseDr TRACEY McLELLAN (Labour—Banks Peninsula) to the Minister for COVID-19 ResponseQuestion No. 6—COVID-19 Response6. Dr TRACEY McLELLAN (Labour—Banks Peninsula) to the Minister for COVID-19 Response: How have New Zealand's COVID-19 health protection measures improved over the past year?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister for COVID-19 Response): It was a year ago today that New Zealand moved to COVID-19 alert level 4 where we would stay for five weeks in an attempt to eliminate the virus from our shores. A year on we continue to deal with the effects of the pandemic but our means of responding to the virus continue to be refined and improved over time. That's included a constant review of our testing strategy to make sure it's fit for purpose and to identify any risk and any cases swiftly and appropriately. We've got thorough and ongoing expansion of our contact tracing system to ensure that we've got the flexibility and the capacity to track cases and their associated contacts in a timely manner and we've got regular improvement of our infection prevention and control measures to restrict unwanted transmission.Dr Tracey McLellan: What have been the key lessons learnt on improving our health measures?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: As we reflect over the last year it's important to remember there was no rule book when we started this and a lot was not yet understood around the COVID-19 virus. So one of the key lessons for everybody involved is that we've had to continue to be agile and responsive open to learning new things and honest when things haven't necessarily gone according to plan. We've always been looking for ways to continue to improve and that's what we will continue to do.Dr Tracey McLellan: How has New Zealand's health system response to COVID-19 compared internationally?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: Anyone watching the news in the evening will know that the effect of COVID-19 around the world continues to be a devastating one something that we have largely been able to avoid here in New Zealand although of course we remember those who did lose their lives to the virus early on in the pandemic. Around the globe we see the ongoing effects of COVID-19 and the very beneficial position that New Zealand has been placed in because of our elimination of the virus. Our response has been ranked as one of the best in the world by both Bloomberg and the Lowy Institute. On average last year we had the fewest restrictions and the most freedoms of any country in the OECD.Dr Tracey McLellan: How have these measures benefited New Zealand?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: We see on a daily basis thousands of New Zealanders going about their day-to-day lives engaging in the sorts of activities that other people around the world dream about: Homegrown the America's Cup a packed Hagley Oval to watch the Blackcaps. These are the sorts of events that other countries around the world simply can't enjoy at the moment that New Zealanders are able to enjoy. I do want to say these are not the result of good luck; these are the result of a very strong dedicated team of public health people up and down the country who are combining their collective efforts with those of the team of 5 million to keep COVID-19 out of New Zealand.