The dominating event of 2020 is the COVID-19 global pandemic, which will leave indelible memories in the minds of everyone on the planet.
There has been great loss and immense disruption to the normal order of things, and changes will be enduring. Our lives and societies are being defined by the strengths of national responses, and our histories will be split into “pre-COVID” and “post-COVID” chapters.
At the University of Otago we are immensely proud of our response to the rapidly-evolving crisis. We acknowledge the response to date through this special edition, He Kitenga 2020, marked to recognise this extraordinary year.
The crisis that faced us as we came back from our summer holidays in Aotearoa was principally a health crisis. As you will read in the following pages, our public health and global health experts came to the fore, both advising us and advising our government's response.
The success of New Zealand to eliminate the virus and then overcome its reappearance to achieve a largely COVID-free status, together with only a very few other nations globally, is due in no small part to our expertise.
Vigilance was essential from the start, as we moved from deliberative research to responsive action at the tip of the spear of the COVID fight. Through diagnostic developments, genomic monitoring and the design of outstanding public health interventions, we remain protected at this time.
Our well-being through this time of change has been challenged also, and equally challenging is the shape and scale of the economic and social disruptions we will face in the months and years ahead. We tell these stories here: we reflect on global perspectives and geopolitics, and we remember what history has taught us about similar crises.
The success of New Zealand's response has relied on a “team of five million” to understand the issues and react accordingly. For Otago's contribution to that response we have similarly relied on a “team of 25,000” students and staff.
All of the stories you will read about in this He Kitenga have as their backdrop our incredible team of Otago professional staff and students.
For example, work on COVID-19 diagnostics and therapeutics continued in our laboratories throughout the most stringent lockdown this country has ever experienced. Essential workers on our campuses, from security staff to custodial services, carried on with their jobs while most of us transitioned to working from home.
Laboratory technicians, research assistants and graduate students shifted their focus and lifted their effort in many cases, working well above and beyond the call of duty. Gaining regulatory approval and ensuring that work was undertaken with the highest level of safety also required huge effort from professional staff teams.
Last, and by no means least, the communication to staff and students of information that was changing rapidly required herculean effort from our call centre and communications teams. That includes pulling out all the stops by our publications editor Karen Hogg, her writing team and production colleagues to get this special edition of He Kitenga prepared in record time.
Enough from me – we give you this volume not only to share with pride our contributions to this crisis to date, but also as a resource. If you find that you or those around you would benefit from the knowledge and expertise of our researchers then please feel free to reach out to contact them directly. I am sure that they will be happy to help.
Ngā mihi manaakitanga
Professor Richard Blaikie
Deputy Vice-Chancellor
(Research and Enterprise)