New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has warned that an Omicron outbreak is inevitable, although the country has not had any valid detection of the virus.
She also said that New Zealand will not impose the lockdowns that it was used previously, including for the Delta variant.
“This stage of the pandemic is different to what we have dealt with before. Omicron is more transmissible,” PM Ardern said. “That is going to make it harder to keep it out, but it will also make it more challenging to control once it arrives. But just like before, when Covid changes, we change.”
About 93% of New Zealanders aged 12 and over are fully vaccinated and 52% have had a booster dose. The country has just begun vaccinating children aged between 5 and 11.
New Zealand has managed to contain the spread of the Delta variant, with an average of about 20 new cases each day. But it has seen an increasing number of people arriving into the country and going into mandatory quarantine who are infected with Omicron.
Opposition leader Christopher Luxon said Ms Ardern had planned poorly for Omicron and had managed to secure for the country less than one rapid Covid-19 test per person. “That is a stunning indictment on the government’s lazy lack of planning,” he said.
