Community spread appeared in Omicron and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was forced to cancel the wedding.
On January 23, local time, Ardern said at the epidemic press conference that Community transmission has begun in New Zealand, and New Zealand will enter the "red" epidemic prevention level from 23:59 on the 23rd. "We are on the verge of a (new outbreak)" she said.
Ardern also announced that her wedding would be canceled. Ardern, 41, and her fiancé, Clark Gefourde, have a daughter who, according to New Zealand media, were scheduled to have a wedding in the coming weeks.
Asked how it felt to cancel a wedding, Ardern said, "That's life."
Infographic: Ardern and fiancé Gafford. /IC photo
A family of 9 people infected with Aumechjong and attended a wedding of 100 people
Since Last November, the Omikeron variant has spread around the world, triggering a new round of outbreaks in many countries and regions. And New Zealand was one of the few countries unaffected by Omicron – until recently.
According to the New Zealand Radio (RNZ), Ardern introduced at the press conference on the 23rd that 9 cases of Omilon infection were confirmed in a family. This is the first time there has been community transmission in the country, and previous cases of Omikeron have been linked to imports from abroad.
Of particular concern is the family's trip to Auckland on the North Island in mid-January for a wedding and other event for about 100 people before flying back to Nelson City, South Island. Later, a flight attendant on their flight was also confirmed to be infected, and she has since worked on four other flights.
Ardern said no relationship between the cases and the border has been found, which means that "Omilon is spreading in Auckland and possibly in Nelson-Marlborough and beyond".
On August 18, 2021, local time, Wellington, New Zealand, due to the severe covid-19 epidemic, New Zealand entered the highest level of epidemic prevention and control level four response mode, and the streets were empty. /IC photo
According to her, in the coming weeks, New Zealand may face a situation of more than 1,000 new confirmed cases in a single day, and may even rise to thousands after that.
The island nation of New Zealand, located in Oceania, has been praised for its epidemic prevention and control. The country's worst wave of outbreaks occurred in mid-November, but the highest number of confirmed cases in a single day at the time was just over 220. Therefore, the spread of the Omiljung community has aroused vigilance.
In order to slow the spread of Omilon, Ardern announced that New Zealand has entered the highest level of "red" epidemic prevention since midnight on the 23rd, which will last for at least a few weeks. Specific measures include increasing the requirement to wear masks and limiting the number of people who can move indoors to 100 people – if the indoor venue does not require a vaccine pass, the number of people will be limited to 25 people.
However, Ardern stressed that the "red" epidemic prevention is not a blockade, commercial activities can continue, and the public can also move freely within the country. "In the early stages, we managed the Case of Omicron in the same way as Delta, which is to quickly detect, track, isolate to slow the spread."
In fact, New Zealand has been banning foreigners since March 2020. Earlier, the Ardern government also postponed plans for a phased reopening from mid-January to late February to avoid a major Outbreak of O'Mikharong similar to that of neighbouring Australia.
Data from the New Zealand Ministry of Health on January 23 showed that in the past 24 hours, there have been 71 new confirmed cases in New Zealand, of which 24 are community-transmitted cases and 47 are in isolation points.
The Prime Minister responded to the cancellation of the wedding: this is life
The Community of Omicron spread forced Ardern to cancel the wedding she and her fiancé had scheduled for this summer.
Born in 1980, Ardern was elected Prime Minister of New Zealand in October 2017, becoming the youngest Prime Minister in nearly two hundred years and the third female Prime Minister in New Zealand history.
It is worth noting that Ardern was not married when he took office, but had a long-term partner, TV host Clark Gayford.
About a year later, in June 2018, Ardern gave birth to a daughter with Gafford, becoming New Zealand's first female prime minister to have a child in office and the second head of government in the world to become a mother in office. In May 2019, Ardern and Gayford got engaged.
On June 24, 2018, local time, in Auckland, New Zealand, New Zealand Prime Minister Ardern and his partner Gafford appeared in front of the media for the first time with their daughter in their arms. /IC photo
Although Ardern did not announce the date and location of his wedding, according to media reports such as the New Zealand Herald, Ardern and Gayford were originally scheduled to have a wedding this summer (December to February for the summer in the southern hemisphere), in Gisborne, on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island.
However, the menacing Amikerjong disrupted her plans.
Ardern said at the press conference on the 23rd, "My wedding will not continue, but I just have the same experience affected by the epidemic as many other New Zealanders." I'm deeply sorry for anyone who gets into this situation."
Asked how she felt about the cancellation, she said that "it's life" and that she was no different from thousands of New Zealanders who could be more affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ardern renewed his call on New Zealanders to get vaccinated with booster needles. She said that Aumechon has spread to more than 100 countries around the world, and it came to New Zealand relatively late, so New Zealand still has time to get booster injections and vaccinate children to prepare for a new outbreak.
New Zealand has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. According to Reuters, about 94% of New Zealand's population over the age of 12 has been vaccinated. Of these, about 56 per cent have been vaccinated with booster needles.
Beijing News reporter Xie Lian
Edited by Lei Zhang Proofreader Lucy