New Zealand has moved to its ‘red traffic light setting’ as new COVID-19 cases have surfaced.
New Zealand is one of the few countries that have received praise due to its management of the coronavirus pandemic. It continues to do so these days as the COVID-19 crisis persists across the globe.
Alongside the nation, its Prime Minister has also obtained positive remarks from many individuals all over the world. Jacinda Ardern even recently made headlines again after cancelling her wedding due to the latest developments in the country.
BBC reported that she announced the matter following the decision to place New Zealand under new restrictions. It came after officials confirmed a cluster of nine cases of the Omicron variant.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern cancels wedding to long-time partner
On Sunday, Jacinda Ardern confirmed to reporters that her wedding to personality Clarke Garford would not go ahead as planned.
No confirmations have emerged when they originally intended to tie the knot. But, many believe that they scheduled the ceremony for some time in the next few weeks.
She stated that she had joined other New Zealanders who have had similar experiences. She also noted that she is “no different” from those who have had much “more devastating impacts” due to the pandemic.
The Prime Minister, later on, apologised “to anyone who is caught up” in this kind of scenario, adding that “such is life.”
New set of COVID-19 restrictions
The announcement came after Jacinda Ardern announced that New Zealand would move to its “red traffic light setting” starting on Sunday. Officials reportedly said that they are expecting the level of transmission across the community to be high.
Under the new COVID-19 restrictions, indoor venues and events will have a limited capacity of up to 100 vaccinated individuals. The number goes down to 25 “if vaccine passes are not being used.”
Reports stated that “red” is the most restrictive measure in New Zealand. But, domestic travels will continue, and there will no longer be borders around regions.
Face masks are also mandatory in some settings. These include public transport and establishments.
The new set of measures is set to conclude at the end of the following month.
New Zealand PM received praises, faced criticisms
The Prime Minister obtained mixed reception from the public across the country. While many individuals praised and complimented her for the decisions, some others were critical of her move.
New Zealand Herald reported that one of the critics is Piers Morgan, who criticised her on social media. He said that he is “not sure” why Jacinda Ardern implemented “draconian new restrictions” and cancelled her wedding to her long-time partner.
Given over 90% of New Zealand’s eligible population has had at least 2 doses of covid vaccine, and Omicron is indisputably a significantly less severe strain of the virus, I’m not sure why Jacinda Ardern is implementing draconian new restrictions & cancelling her wedding?
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 23, 2022
With some netizens echoing the sentiments of the television personality, others defended the New Zealander leader on the same platform. Some even noted that the PM has “exemplary” leadership, adding that the country has only had 52 COVID-19 deaths in totality.
Images courtesy of nzherald.co.nz/YouTube