New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is self-isolating after coming into close contact with someone infected with the Omicron strain of COVID-19.
On January 22, Prime Minister Ardern boarded Air New Zealand flight NZ8273 and traveled from Waitangi to Auckland. However, the flight was added to the "Locations of interest list" and passengers were asked to quarantine as close contacts.
Prime Minister Ardern is due to begin quarantine for 10 days, until Tuesday, February 1st.
He stayed in Waitangi for the recording of "Waitangi Day" and came into close contact with someone who was in Waitangi.
Prime Minister Ardern and New Zealand Governor-General Cindy Kilo visited Waitangi, north of Auckland, to record a program related to Waitangi Day .
"Waitangi Day" is New Zealand's National Day on February 6th. It is the day in 1840 when a treaty was signed between the British government, which was trying to seize sovereignty over New Zealand, and the chiefs of the indigenous Maori people. As a result, New Zealand became a British territory. This is considered New Zealand's first treaty, and this day is known as New Zealand's National Day.
The Treaty of Waitangi has often been the subject of controversy, due to problems with the translation of the Maori language and the failure to guarantee the rights that Maori were supposed to receive, but ceremonies and other events commemorating the signing are held every year on Waitangi Day.
Prime Minister Ardern was on the same flight to Auckland after visiting Waitangi, and Governor Kilo, her press secretary and the Governor's staff were also forced to quarantine.
For more information about Cindy Kilo, who became the 22nd Governor-General of New Zealand last year, please see this article.
How effective is the third vaccine?
As of the morning of January 30, the Prime Minister was in good health with no symptoms, and a test he took on the same day came back negative. However, he will continue to self-isolate as scheduled until February 1.
In New Zealand, the third dose has been significantly brought forward, and the vaccine can be administered if there is a gap of more than four months between the second and third doses.Currently, approximately 28% of the 4.69 million people eligible for vaccination have completed their third dose.View this post on Instagram
Infection tracing
Since the beginning of the pandemic, New Zealand has focused on tracing the infection routes of positive cases, and the Ministry of Health continues to publish a Locations of interest list .
Additionally, by using the app to scan QR codes of places they have visited, citizens can receive notifications if they are suspected of having been in close contact with someone.
This list previously contained cases where there was a possibility of infection with the Omicron strain, but now it is a uniform list regardless of the type of mutant strain. The Ministry of Health has stated that due to the recent spread of infection with the Omicron strain, the number of infected people is likely to continue to increase, and urges people who may be infected to get tested immediately and follow the instructions of their health center.
As of January 30, there were 103 confirmed cases in New Zealand. It is not known how many of these were infected with the Omicron strain, but based on recent trends in the spread of infection, it is believed that the Omicron strain is spreading widely.
With the current number of positive cases and the size of the infected area, tracking of infection routes is working, but if the number of daily infections exceeds 1,000, the use of this system will be limited.
Click here for a list of locations of interest where close contact may occur.
