New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern cancels her wedding due to new Omicron restrictions

(Credits: Reuters)

Sydney: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has canceled her wedding as the nation imposes new restrictions to slow the community spread of the Covid-19 omicron variant, she told reporters.

New Zealand will impose mask rules and limit gathering from midnight on Sunday after a cluster of nine cases of the omicron variant showed community transmission from the North to South islands after a wedding.

A family traveled by plane from the North Island capital of Auckland to a wedding in the South Island attended by 100 people. The family and a flight attendant tested positive.

New Zealand would move to a red setting under its Covid-19 protection framework, with more mask wearing, and a cap of 100 customers indoors in hospitality settings and events such as weddings, or 25 people if venues are not using vaccine passes, Ardern said.

"My wedding will not be going ahead," she told reporters, adding she was sorry for anyone caught up in a similar scenario.

Asked by reporters how she felt about her wedding cancellation, Ardern replied: "Such is life."

She added, "I am no different to, dare I say it, thousands of other New Zealanders who have had much more devastating impacts felt by the pandemic, the most gutting of which is the inability to be with a loved one sometimes when they are gravely ill. That will far, far outstrip any sadness I experience."

New Zealand's borders have been shut to foreigners since March 2020. The government pushed back plans for a phased reopening from mid-January to the end of February out of concern about a potential Omicron outbreak as in neighbouring Australia. 

(1/5) #COVIDUPDATE: Following cases of the Omicron variant in the community, the Government has announced that the whole of New Zealand will move into the Red COVID-19 Protection Framework settings from 11:59pm tonight pic.twitter.com/hxzSjMis2s

— New Zealand Labour (@nzlabour) January 23, 2022

People able to travel to New Zealand under narrow exceptions must apply to stay at state-managed quarantine facilities. The government last week stopped issuing any new slots amid a surge in the number of people arriving with Omicron. About 94% of New Zealand's population over the age of 12 is fully vaccinated and about 56% of those eligible have had booster shots.