The New Zealand Herald is bringing back some of the best premium stories of 2020. Today we look at the pandemic papers - a investigative series which examines thousands of pages of official documents that shaped New Zealand's battle against Covid-19 .
The inside story of how NZ fought Covid 19
In mid-January a small team in Wellington, buried deep in the bowels of the public service, were the only people in New Zealand really interested in 2019-nCoV. Two monthslater, the virus was a globe-consuming pandemic that had killed more than 100,000, made millions more unemployed, and stopped entire nations in their tracks. Matt Nippert pieces together 2540 pages of official documentation, and interviews with government insiders, to report on how late-night cabinet teleconferences, rushed missteps - and no small amount of good fortune - saw New Zealand locked down in the war against Covid-19.
Director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield quickly became the most famous doctor in New Zealand. Photo / Getty Images
The inside story of how our cobbled together lockdown nearly came undone
The level 4 lockdown was 32 of the most dramatic days in New Zealand's history. Normal life petrified in suburban homes and designated survivor lists were drawn up in the Beehive. The mood shifted at 1pm each day from initial dread and anxiety, to cautious hope and - finally - relief. Matt Nippert follows the path New Zealand took in the second part of his series. He finds that New Zealand could have emerged from isolated bubbles on April 27 into quite a different country.
The inside story of how NZ faced down Great Depression 2.0
In early April, as Covid panic plumbed its darkest depths, Treasury was predicting economic carnage unseen since 1929. Matt Nippert continues his series mining the thousands of pages of Cabinet documents, and talks to a candid finance minister Grant Robertson about the dramatic moves that raised hopes the New Zealand economy has been pulled back from the brink.
Big calls had to be made: Grant Robertson in Wellington during Lockdown. Photo / Mark Mitchell
'A calculated risk': Inside the Covid bunker with Ardern and Peters
Matt Nippert continues his series, sitting down in the Beehive with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her then deputy in government Winston Peters to chronicle the frenetic months inside the bunker as New Zealand battled Covid and now, gingerly, plots a future for which no one had planned.
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern walk to the house during Budget 2020 delivery day at Parliament. Photo / Getty Imaes
