New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has become the country’s most popular leader after a new poll released Monday showed her popularity rating had surged to the highest level in the Pacific island’s history.
Ms. Ardern has received international praise for taking early precautions to slow the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus days before a single case in the country was confirmed.
The new Newshub-Reid Research poll revealed that Ms. Ardern has a 59.5% approval rating, 20.8 points higher than previous polling, Reuters reported, and the highest for a party leader in New Zealand’s history.
Favorability for her Labor Party spiked 14 points to 56.6% which also marks the highest for any party in the country’s history.
New Zealand — with a population of 5 million — reported 1,499 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, 21 deaths and 1,433 recoveries, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.
• Lauren Toms can be reached at lmeier@washingtontimes.com.
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