Justification of government responses during the Covid-19 pandemic: Variations between countries following eradication vs mitigation strategy

At the beginning of 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic took the world by surprise. It had quickly spread from China to all regions of the world causing a severe increase in hospitalizations and mortalities. This led to governments implementing measures in order to limit the consequences of the virus. However, government approaches varied significantly despite the fact that they were all dealing with the same virus. This research examines how governments justify their chosen Covid-19 strategies and how this justification varied between countries. The two strategies that are analysed are the eradication and mitigation strategy adopted by the countries New Zealand, Australia, England and the Netherlands. A qualitative content analysis seeks to identify the main reasons provided by Prime Minister for their chosen Covid-19 strategy. Transcripts of Covid press conferences made by the Prime Minister of the countries involved were collected for the analysis of the data. The analysis shows that the...Show moreAt the beginning of 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic took the world by surprise. It had quickly spread from China to all regions of the world causing a severe increase in hospitalizations and mortalities. This led to governments implementing measures in order to limit the consequences of the virus. However, government approaches varied significantly despite the fact that they were all dealing with the same virus. This research examines how governments justify their chosen Covid-19 strategies and how this justification varied between countries. The two strategies that are analysed are the eradication and mitigation strategy adopted by the countries New Zealand, Australia, England and the Netherlands. A qualitative content analysis seeks to identify the main reasons provided by Prime Minister for their chosen Covid-19 strategy. Transcripts of Covid press conferences made by the Prime Minister of the countries involved were collected for the analysis of the data. The analysis shows that the countries who followed the eradication strategy justified their chosen strategy by putting more emphasis on the elements health implications for their population and the economic impact caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Countries who opted for the mitigation strategy emphasized the possibility of exceeding their healthcare capacity more in addition to the possible economic impact. Both set of countries named economic impact of Covid-19 and related measures as a main reason for their strategy, but they differed in the reasons health implications for their population and exceeding their healthcare capacity.Show less

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Justification of government responses during the Covid-19 pandemic: Variations between countries following eradication vs mitigation strategy