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Jacinda Ardern Offered Tips On Tackling Coronavirus During Call With Joe Biden

Jacinda Ardern Offered Tips On Tackling Coronavirus During Call With Joe Biden

The New Zealand PM has been globally praised for her quick-acting approach to contain Covid.

Jessica Lynch

Jessica Lynch

There's no doubt that New Zealand's approach to curbing the spread of coronavirus was nothing short of impressive, so if anyone equipped to give advice to the US on how to tackle their growing Covid cases, it's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

With just over 2,000 cases and 25 deaths in New Zealand throughout the whole pandemic, Ardern effectively suppressed the deadly virus after implementing strict lockdowns and closing the country to outsiders.

Now, compare that with the US, which has recently seen their 12 millionth case of the virus as well as the death of over 255,000 people.

Even with the difference in country size and population, it's clear that the US is struggling to contain the coronavirus.

PA

After speaking to US President-elect Joe Biden over the phone, Jacinda Ardern revealed that the pair had a 'positive and warm' call in which they discussed Biden's fondness for New Zealand, as well as issues of mutual interest between the two countries.

The Prime Minister told reporters in Wellington: "He spoke of his fond memories of visiting New Zealand years ago. He was very pleased to be invited to come back here."

"We discussed Covid-19 and the president-elect spoke positively about New Zealand's response to the pandemic."

"I offered to him and his team access to New Zealand health officials in order to share their experience on things we've learnt on our Covid-19 journey."

It seems like a far more amicable discussion than previous meetings between Ardern and Donald Trump, with the latter pointing to the PM during the east Asia summit, saying that 'this lady caused a lot of upset in her country' in reference to the 2017 election in which she became prime minister.

Ardern later said she fired back to Trump: "No one marched when I was elected."

Asked about the face-to-face meeting with Trump, Ardern diplomatically replied at the time: "He is consistent. He is the same person that you see behind the scenes as he is in the public or through the media."

Trump also previously accused our Kiwi pals of having a 'big surge' in Covid cases - a claim that was unsubstantiated.

At the time, Ardern simply replied with the statistics, saying: "To give you just one example, the United States has 16,563 cases per million people. We are 269 cases per million people."

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: New Zealand, Politics, US