The research, co-authored by Prof Wilson and Matt Boyd, of Adapt Research, has been published as a paper in the international journal Risk Analysis. To identify the best islands to prepare as refuges, researchers devised a scoring system, taking into account the characteristics of each island nation's population, location, resources and society. It was closely followed by New Zealand and then Iceland,'' Prof Wilson said. Prof Wilson said a trial run of the closure of airports was an example of something Dunedin could do to prepare. New Zealand could also collaborate on planning with other island nations that are most likely to be able to survive a pandemic threat, such as Australia.

Source: Otago Daily Times October 02, 2019 15:33 UTC