Ashley Bloomfield

By RNZ. The former director general of health is “adamant” he doesn't want Covid for Christmas and has encouraged people to take safety measures as the ...

He would commute at times - but a lot of the job would be done remotely. He said he would not be relocating to Auckland for the job as being in Wellington near decision-makers was the best place for him to be. Bloomfield said he had discussions with the university and decided it may be somewhere he could make a “real contribution”. Bloomfield said he was “really excited” to be doing something “quite different” from the role he had in public health. Once he had announced he was stepping down, the university approached him - believing he would be a good fit for the job. “[It’s about] getting to the heart of how we can strengthen the links between the research and science that is done there at the university and getting that into the public policy process and decision-making in a way where it’s useful for decision-makers.”