This post was co-authored by Kelly Buchanan and Elin Hofverberg, foreign law specialists in the Global Legal Research Directorate of the Law Library of Congress.
Beginning in early 2020, governments around the world have grappled with how to best respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. New Zealand and Sweden are located worlds apart, one in the northern hemisphere near the Arctic Circle, the other near the bottom of the southern hemisphere. Still, the countries share some similar characteristics: both are relatively small countries (with around five and ten million residents, respectively), with relatively high GDP per capita, and have long-established public health care systems. Their responses to COVID-19, however, are frequently noted in contrast to each other. New Zealand has taken an “elimination