New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks during a post-Cabinet news conference at Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand, Monday, October 4, 2021.
Mark Mitchell / AP
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Mark Mitchell / AP
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks during a post-Cabinet news conference at Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand, Monday, October 4, 2021.
Mark Mitchell / AP
WELLINGTON, New Zealand – New Zealand is one of the few remaining countries to have avoided any outbreaks of the omicron variant – but Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Thursday that an outbreak was inevitable. and the country will tighten restrictions as soon as an outbreak is detected.
But she also said that New Zealand would not impose the electric locks it used in the past, even on the delta variant.
“This phase of the pandemic is different from what we’ve dealt with before. Omicrons are more contagious,” Ardern said. “That will make it harder to stop it, but it will also make it harder to control when it comes. But just like before, when COVID changes, so do we.”
Ardern says that within 24 to 48 hours of detecting omicrons in the community, the country will go “red”. That would allow businesses to remain open and resume domestic travel, but would require students to wear masks and limit crowds to 100.
Currently, most of New Zealand is in the “orange” scene, which requires some people to wear masks and proof of vaccination but there is no limit to crowd size.
About 93% of New Zealanders aged 12 years and over are fully immunized and 52% have had their booster shot. The country has just begun to vaccinate children between the ages of 5 and 11.
New Zealand has managed to contain the spread of the delta variant, with an average of about 20 new cases per day. But it has seen more and more people arrive in the country and impose mandatory quarantines on those infected with omicrons.
That has put a strain on the quarantine system and led the government to restrict access to returning citizens while it decides what to do about reopening its borders, leaving many wanting to return. Angry New Zealand again.
Opposition leader Christopher Luxon said Ardern had badly planned the omicron and had attempted to bring into the country under one rapid COVID-19 test per person.
“It’s a great indictment of the government’s unplanned laziness,” he said.
Ardern said the most important thing people can do is have a booster shot, which will reduce the severity of the omicron infection and allow most people to recover on their own at home rather than needing hospital care. squirrel.
