‘Spread your legs’: New Zealand makes hay with Covid minister’s gaffe

A slip of the tongue from New Zealand’s Covid-19 response minister as he was updating the nation live on the coronavirus outbreak has given the country a lighthearted, albeit slightly x-rated, break from regular pandemic coverage.

At a media briefing on Sunday, minister Chris Hipkins was updating the country on the growing number of coronavirus cases in the community, when he urged New Zealanders to socially distance when they go outside to “spread their legs”.

“It is a challenge for people in high density areas to get outside and spread their legs when they are surrounded by other people,” he said.

Director general of health, the typically composed Dr Ashley Bloomfield, was standing next to Hipkins at the podium and briefly raised his eyebrows as the minister continued with his address.

New Zealand is currently in a nationwide lockdown in response to a Delta outbreak.

When Hipkins later realised his slip-up, he said he would go and “stretch his legs” and acknowledged that the media “would all have fun with him later”.

The gaffe was not lost on New Zealanders, who embraced the hashtag #spreadyourlegs and called on fellow citizens to “spread your legs, and save lives”.

Some pointed out that it gave new meaning to the government’s pandemic catch phrase “go hard, go early”.

Another Twitter user called the reaction “exactly the comic relief Aotearoa needed today.”

One person joked that the country could end up “with a team of 10 million” after Hipkin’s “advice”.