Watch: Stephen Colbert praises New Zealand for setting an example that America should follow

US show host Stephen Colbert renewed his romance with New Zealand by releasing another pink video about life on these beaches.

Popular The Late Show champion Stephen Colbert has given special praise for New Zealand’s handling of Covid-19 and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s leadership.

Colbert had earlier visited Ardern on his show as a guest in the US, before visiting New Zealand last October.

There, Ardern picked him up from the airport before taking him home to attend a barbecue with her family and pop singer Lorde.

Now with the Covid-19 pandemic raging in the United States and travel restrictions, Colbert seized the opportunity to walk down memory lane and release a new video from his time in New Zealand.

He said: “Coronavirus infections in this country have reached their highest levels ever, and because of that, there are still massive travel restrictions for Americans around the world.”

“All these travel restrictions made me think of my recent big trip last year when I traveled to Downunder and scrolled a little to the right for my newest Zealander series.

“And I really wish I was there now because I might have heard, they had one of the most successful epidemiological responses in the world.”

Then he noted that out of 5 million people, New Zealand had only 25 deaths and 2,000 cases of Covid virus.

This means, he joked, that many of the injuries came from the Christmas party at the White House.

In his new video, Back to New Zealand: A Magical Land where the hug still happens, he noted that life was normal again on these beaches as fans were able to attend sports matches and concerts.

And while New Zealand had the advantage of being a small, remote island, much of the success in containing COVID-19 has been due to “New Zealanders themselves”.

“According to the medical journal, The Lancet Public Health, the keys to New Zealand’s success have been critical governance, effective communication and high population compliance,” he said.

“But the United States only got close to zero with these three things.”

Explaining how the first lockdown for New Zealand worked, the New York Times was quoted as saying, “It was so severe that even a lost cricket ball was banned from the neighbor’s yard.”

Then he went on to say that when he visited New Zealand, there were times when it was as if he was stepping into the past.

“But I’m looking at it now and hopefully New Zealand is actually our future, our full natural future of communication,” he said.

“Here’s a fun fact, they’re actually 18 hours ahead of us, literally living tomorrow.

“ And I hope they also live the life we ​​could do in America five or six months from now.

“A magical life of civic cooperation for the common good – let’s hope we catch them in on it.”

His final video clip came in what turned out to be a New Zealand advertising campaign.

Taxpayers paid more than $ 100,000 from Colbert and his crew to visit New Zealand last year.

But Tourism New Zealand expected a “significant return on investment” of $ 5 million from the estimated advertising value from Colbert’s trip.

The talk show host, and Lord of the Rings fanatic, spent six days in the country last October filming The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which averaged 3 million views for the episode.

Tourism NZ spokesperson said the idea for Colbert to visit New Zealand first came in September 2018, before Ardern appeared on his show.