New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is self-isolating after coming into close contact with someone infected with Covid-19.
Ms Ardern is understood to have been exposed to the virus during a flight from the town of Kerikeri to Auckland on January 22.
She will now self-isolate until Tuesday.
New Zealand’s governor-general Dame Cindy Kiro and other members of staff who were on the flight are also self-isolating.
Both women had been in the Northland region to do some filming ahead of New Zealand’s national day, Waitangi Day, on February 6.
Ms Ardern is asymptomatic and is understood to be ‘feeling well’.
Her office released a statement saying: ‘In line with Ministry of Health advice she will be tested immediately tomorrow and will isolate until Tuesday.’
Ms Ardern had been planning to get married this weekend but she postponed the celebration after introducing new Covid-19 restrictions.
A dozen flights were listed as exposure events late on Saturday by New Zealand health officials, a possible indication that one or more of the flight crew was infected.
Officials said genome sequencing would be completed on Sunday, with the infected person expected to have the Omicron variant.
New Zealand has contained the virus for much of the pandemic, and has reported just 52 deaths among its population of five million, but an outbreak of the Omicron variant is starting to take hold.
About 77% of New Zealanders are fully vaccinated, according to Our World in Data.
That figure rises to 93% of those aged 12 and over, according to New Zealand officials.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Source: Read Full Article
