New Zealand: Pandemic hurts ability of nations to face natural disasters
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Before New Zealand began its four-week lockdown to fight the coronavirus, a reporter asked Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern what would happen if an earthquake struck while everybody was sequestered in their homes.
“Why on earth would your mind go there?” Ardern quipped back.
Every year, the world contends with devastating typhoons, wildfires, tsunamis and earthquakes. The dynamic doesn’t change just because the globe also happens to be fighting a pandemic.