A former Prime Minister says the next 12 to 18 months is all about survival.

Sir John Key helped steer New Zealand through crises like the Canterbury Earthquake and the global financial crisis.

He told The Country we've got to hold out until there's a vaccine.

"If that's the end game, then the question is if you've got to survive through to that end game, what does that all look like, and that's really the big challenge now." 

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