CoveragePost
February 28, 2026
Essay by Keith Rankin, 20 February 2026. Imagine if the Olympic Games were currently being held in Wuhan, China. There would be widespread mentionings of it having been the starting place of the Covid19 pandemic, in December 2019. But pandemics (not ‘global pandemics’; pandemics are global by definition, as are world wars) have two places ... <a title="Keith Rankin Essay – Milano-Cortina, Pandemic Central" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/02/28/keith-rankin-essay-milano-cortina-pandemic-central/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Essay – Milano-Cortina, Pandemic Central">Read more</a>
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September 26, 2024
Analysis by Keith Rankin. This chart essentially shows the stresses that New Zealand’s public health system can expect to face. I have analysed the death data by age, covering all deaths from July 1998 to June 2024. For those years (using June years) I have looked at every age of death from 16 to 99 ... <a title="Keith Rankin Chart Analysis – Death Frequencies in Aotearoa New Zealand, by Birth Year" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2024/09/26/keith-rankin-chart-analysis-death-frequencies-in-aotearoa-new-zealand-by-birth-year/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Chart Analysis – Death Frequencies in Aotearoa New Zealand, by Birth Year">Read more</a>
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February 13, 2024
Analysis by Keith Rankin Generally, more people die in winter. Not surprising, though some years have significantly more deaths than others, and the timing of ‘peak death’ each year varies between the wintery months. These charts show the deaths, determined from weekly data, of people named Smith, New Zealand’s most common surname last century. The ... <a title="Keith Rankin Chart Analysis – New Zealand Post-War Mortality: Seasonal Patterns" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2024/02/13/keith-rankin-chart-analysis-new-zealand-post-war-mortality-seasonal-patterns/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Chart Analysis – New Zealand Post-War Mortality: Seasonal Patterns">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
January 19, 2024
Analysis by Keith Rankin. In the European Union at least, mortality data is now available until close to the end of 2023. In northern Europe, mortality has been markedly higher than it should have been in the ‘Fall’ – autumn – of 2023. The main exception is Poland. Respiratory illness is most likely the culprit. ... <a title="Keith Rankin Chart Analysis – Excess Mortality to Fall 2023: mainly Northeast Europe" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2024/01/19/keith-rankin-chart-analysis-excess-mortality-to-fall-2023-mainly-northeast-europe/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Chart Analysis – Excess Mortality to Fall 2023: mainly Northeast Europe">Read more</a>
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September 15, 2023
Analysis by Keith Rankin. The chart above looks at the changing numbers of deaths for New Zealand’s seven adult generations. The numbers are ‘triennial’ – three-year percentage increases. For example, in 2020, twenty percent (20%) more Generation-Y people died than three years earlier; with ‘three years earlier defined as the average for years 2015 to 2019, ... <a title="Keith Rankin Chart Analysis – Triennial increases in Deaths in New Zealand by Generation" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/09/15/keith-rankin-chart-analysis-triennial-increases-in-deaths-in-new-zealand-by-generation/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Chart Analysis – Triennial increases in Deaths in New Zealand by Generation">Read more</a>
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September 7, 2023
Analysis by Keith Rankin. This chart shows total deaths in a number of comparable countries with high or highish life expectancies. The countries with most deaths have older populations. New Zealand should perhaps be compared most with Ireland, Scotland, Denmark and Finland; all countries with just over five million people. And with Australia. Australian ... <a title="Keith Rankin Chart Analysis – Deaths as an Indicator of Population Age Structure and the increasing Demand for Health Care" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/09/07/keith-rankin-chart-analysis-deaths-as-an-indicator-of-population-age-structure-and-the-increasing-demand-for-health-care/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Chart Analysis – Deaths as an Indicator of Population Age Structure and the increasing Demand for Health Care">Read more</a>
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August 15, 2023
Essay by Keith Rankin. Fresh vegetables and fruit – quality foods – are what economists call a merit good, like primary health care, education and urban public transport. By contrast, ‘junk food’ – rich in sugar – is a demerit good. We in New Zealand and many other countries have a problem: too much unhealthy ... <a title="Keith Rankin Essay – Subsidise Vegetables and Fruit" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/08/15/keith-rankin-essay-subsidise-vegetables-and-fruit/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Essay – Subsidise Vegetables and Fruit">Read more</a>
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August 7, 2023
Analysis by Keith Rankin. These three countries are very useful comparators because they have broadly similar demographics – especially population age structures – to each other. Further they have comparable living standards. The Republic of Ireland has a population the same size as New Zealand (and a similar climate); Australia has close to five ... <a title="Keith Rankin Chart Analysis – Seasonal Profile of Deaths in Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia: 2015-2023" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/08/07/keith-rankin-chart-analysis-seasonal-profile-of-deaths-in-ireland-new-zealand-and-australia-2015-2023/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Chart Analysis – Seasonal Profile of Deaths in Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia: 2015-2023">Read more</a>
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July 19, 2023
SPECIAL REPORT: By Yamin Kogoya Suspended Papua Governor Lukas Enembe, who is detained in Indonesia on corruption charges, was supposed to go on trial yesterday but this did not go ahead as he is gravely ill and could not attend. Upon realising the governor’s health had deteriorated, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) tried to transport ... <a title="Papua Governor Lukas Enembe gravely ill – KPK trial delayed" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/07/19/papua-governor-lukas-enembe-gravely-ill-kpk-trial-delayed/" aria-label="Read more about Papua Governor Lukas Enembe gravely ill – KPK trial delayed">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
June 21, 2023
Analysis by Keith Rankin. The Pandemic can be assessed a bit like games of football, with deaths being the score. (Or, given that there are many ‘teams’ competing together, a better analogy may be a Marathon race. Nevertheless, I will use the language of the football metaphor.) The winning country would be that with the ... <a title="Keith Rankin Analysis – Covid19 Mortality Assessment – the Pandemic ‘World Cup’" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/06/21/keith-rankin-analysis-covid19-mortality-assessment-the-pandemic-world-cup/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Analysis – Covid19 Mortality Assessment – the Pandemic ‘World Cup’">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
June 13, 2023
Analysis by Keith Rankin. The above chart draws on the historical ‘births, deaths, and marriages’ dataset published by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It’s a major resource for genealogical research. The database for 13 June 2023 showed the deaths of all people whose deaths were registered in New Zealand on or before 13 June 1973. ... <a title="Keith Rankin Chart Analysis – Granny Smith" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/06/13/keith-rankin-chart-analysis-granny-smith/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Chart Analysis – Granny Smith">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
April 13, 2023
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Over Easter I relistened to Jim Mora’s RNZ interview (17 May 2020) of Johan Giesecke, “world leading epidemiologist” and Professor Emeritus at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. In the period April to June 2020, Sweden gained notoriety for its divergent public health policies with respect to the management of the ... <a title="Keith Rankin Analysis – Sweden and Covid19: Three Years after the World’s Attention" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2023/04/13/keith-rankin-analysis-sweden-and-covid19-three-years-after-the-worlds-attention/" aria-label="Read more about Keith Rankin Analysis – Sweden and Covid19: Three Years after the World’s Attention">Read more</a>
