Jacinda Ardern has announced she will delay her own wedding after putting all of New Zealand on Covid Red Alert.
The Prime Minister said that from 11:59pm on Sunday night all residents will be subject to new restrictions after Omicron cases were detected in the community.
Ms Ardern also announced her wedding would be postponed due to the latest outbreak but said she was no different to other New Zealanders.
‘Such is life,’ she told reporters during a press conference in which she reiterated New Zealand was not entering a lockdown.
The prime minister was due to wed her television host partner Clarke Gayford this summer in Gisborne on the North Island after becoming engaged in early 2019.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (pictured) has announced all of New Zealand will be placed on the Code Red Covid footing from 11:59pm on Sunday
Ms Ardern (pictured with her partnner Clarke Gayford) also announced her wedding would be postponed due to the latest outbreak
‘Red is not lockdown. At Red businesses stay open and you can do most of things that you normally do, including visiting family and friends and travelling around the country,’ Ms Ardern said.
‘One of the most important things that people can do is to make sure you and your family have a buddy – like a neighbour or a friend – who can help you out by delivering things that you need if you do become unwell.’
The increase in settings comes after a cluster of nine Omicron cases were discovered in the community with no link to the border.
The new infections were detected in the Nelson and Marlborough region meaning there has been community transmission in Auckland and possibly Motueka.
The cases are part of a single family who flew to a large wedding in Auckland in mid-January with a flight attendant also becoming infected.
‘We don’t yet have a clear lead on the index case that links this family to the border as we have with our other Omicron cases,’ Ardern said.
At the red setting of New Zealand’s traffic light system residents are still able to do most things, including travel and visit other households.
‘Such is life,’ Ms Adern (pictured with her partner and their daughter Neve) told reporters during a press conference after confirming her wedding would be postponed
The increase in settings comes after a cluster of nine Omicron cases were discovered in the community with no link to the border (pictured, people line up to get tested in New Zealand)
‘At Red businesses stay open and you can do most of things that you normally do, including visiting family and friends and travelling around the country,’ Ms Ardern (pictured) said
Hospitality businesses will remain open but be capped at 100 patrons, with customers to remain seated and people also encouraged to work from home.
Schools will remain open with the government to look into ventilation options as thousands of students return to classrooms.
Ms Ardern said both the North and the South Islands would be under the red setting for ‘some weeks’ as the country enters the start of a new wave.
The government will prepare for three stages of Omicron with the third stage being when the country was recording new cases in the thousands.
Changes would be made to contact tracing as well as the definition of contacts and isolation requirements with rapid antigen tests to be used more frequently.
Ms Ardern said both the North and the South Islands would be under the red setting for ‘some weeks’ as the country enters the start of a new wave (pictured, people line-up for vaccines)
It comes just hours after it was announced household contacts of Covid cases will have to isolate for 24 days under harsh new rules (pictured, people wait to get vaccinated)
The prime minister said it was important residents came forward for their booster shot with about 21 per cent of over New Zealand’s population over 12 triple-vaxxed.
It comes just hours after it was announced household contacts of Covid cases will have to isolate for 24 days under harsh new rules.
Ms Ardern has brought in the strict measures as the country battles to stay Covid Zero despite the threat of the highly contagious mutant strain.
But critics say the lengthy quarantine period is ‘unworkable’ and will lead people to avoid getting tested.
Anyone infected with Covid is now required to isolate for 14 days, up from 10 days under the new interim rules.
New Zealand recorded 84 new Covid cases on Saturday, with 43 in the community and another 41 caught at the border (pictured, protesters
Household contacts must then stay in quarantine for a further 10 days, stretching the time alone out to three and a half weeks.
The extension to isolation comes as New Zealand recorded 84 new Covid cases on Saturday, with 43 in the community and another 41 caught at the border.
It includes an Auckland airport worker who tested positive for the omicron strain, sparking fears case numbers could soar up to 1500 a day or more if the mutant strain spreads across the nation.
The NZ Ministry of Health said the changes were made after new scientific data published in Japan revealed the highly infectious strain has a longer incubation period than previous variants with sufferers also shedding the virus for longer.
But critics warn the policy is ‘unworkable’ and could lead to more cases with greater number refusing to be tested in order to avoid the lengthy quarantine period.
