𝕊𝕚𝕠𝕦𝕩𝕤𝕚𝕖 𝕎𝕚𝕝𝕖𝕤 '𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕕' 𝕒𝕟𝕕 '𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕧𝕚𝕝𝕖𝕘𝕖𝕕' 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕔𝕣𝕠𝕨𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟙 ℕ𝕖𝕨 ℤ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕪𝕖𝕒𝕣

𝕎𝕙𝕖𝕟 ℂ𝕠𝕧𝕚𝕕-𝟙𝟡 𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕤𝕥 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕦𝕚𝕝𝕕 𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕖𝕕, 𝕊𝕚𝕠𝕦𝕩𝕤𝕚𝕖 𝕎𝕚𝕝𝕖𝕤 𝕤𝕒𝕪𝕤 𝕤𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕖𝕝𝕥 𝕕𝕦𝕥𝕪𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕡 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕂𝕚𝕨𝕚𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕟 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕞𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕙𝕤.

Now the newly crowned New Zealander of the Year is "proud" and "privileged" to have been able to make an impact in the country’s Covid-19 response.

She’s particularly delighted of the work done alongside The Spinoff cartoonist Toby Morris, helping to unpack the key concepts relating to Covid-19 and were picked up by the World Health Organization (WHO).

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“As a scientist who really admires the WHO, it does feel a little weird that the things I wrote for The Spinoff are now appearing on the World Health’s website. Like wow,” she told Breakfast’s John Campbell this morning.

While she may be one of the more recognisable people of the pandemic, Wiles acknowledges there are many other hardworking Kiwis on the frontline.

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“I’m one of the really visible faces of Covid but thousands and thousands of people are contributing to our success," she says.

"I just see this as part of my job… the research clearly shows that the communities that come together are the ones that survive.”

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Having spent parts of her life living in the United Kingdom as well as South Africa, Wiles says she’d never felt like she had a home until she moved to New Zealand.

“I’ve moved around, I’ve lived in different countries, I’ve never really known where home was and it hasn’t really been until the last few years that I’ve felt, actually this is my home.”

Wiles says she’s grateful to New Zealand for taking her in and making her feel that way.

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