Wellington (New Zealand): New Zealand’s health minister resigned on Thursday due to his personal mistakes during the coronavirus global epidemic. David Clarke described himself as “stupid” for breaking the country’s lockdown rules and then last week blamed a popular health official of the country for the mistakes made on the border, to which the public expressed outrage. Announcing his resignation, Clarke said that he did his work with utmost sincerity. He said, “But it is beginning to become clear to me that by continuing in this position the government is getting distracted in dealing with Kovid-19.” New Zealand was praised worldwide for its success in preventing the coronavirus from spreading among communities, but Clarke drew scorn from some of his statements. He blamed Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield for allowing some people who returned to the country last week to go undetected. When Clarke was speaking, Bloomfield was standing behind him and he was completely surprised by this criticism and started looking around. This video has been viewed millions of times.
Bloomfield has been the country’s trusted medical expert. Clarke’s statement angered many and took to Twitter to buy flowers for Bloomfield. In April, Clarke traveled 19 km to the beach and took a walk with his family in violation of the country’s strict lockdown rules. He did this when the government was appealing to people to stay at their homes. Clarke said at the time, “I am an idiot and I understand why people would be angry with me.” Prime Minister Jesinda Ardern had said at the time that she would have sacked Clarke, but when the country is fighting the Coronavirus, there cannot be a major obstacle in her health. Ardern said on Thursday that he was ready to accept Clarke’s resignation. “It is important that our health leadership has the trust of the people of New Zealand,” he said in a statement. Ardern has temporarily appointed Education Minister Chris Hipkins as Health Minister.
