ABSTRACT
The adoption of border restrictions is a political act that situates bodies relative to the nation state. Despite its lauded pandemic response, Aotearoa/New Zealand deviated from WHO recommendations in its use of strict border control measures. This commentary seeks to critically situate Aotearoa's adoption of border restrictions within the context of quarantine historically and global policy advice. Informed by discourse analysis of WHO COVID‐19 technical guidance and travel advisories, it is argued that in situating COVID‐19 as a global health problem requiring multilateral action WHO advice failed to reflect the needs of nation states, such as Aotearoa/New Zealand, which were poorly prepared to respond to a pandemic. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of New Zealand Geographer is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)