New Zealand will impose mask rules and limit gatherings from midnight Sunday after nine cases of the COVID-19 Omicron variant were found spread across the North and South islands.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Sunday there had been community transmission from Auckland to the Nelson area of the South Island.
A family travelled by plane from the North Island to a wedding in the South Island attended by 100 people. The family and a flight attendant tested positive.
The family, from the Nelson-Marlborough region, attended a wedding and other events while in Auckland, with estimates suggesting they came into contact with "well over 100 people at these events," Ms Ardern said.
In an attempt to slow further spread of the Omicron variant, Ms Ardern said the country would move to a red light setting under its COVID-19 protection framework.
Ms Ardern said the red light setting was not a lockdown and schools and businesses could remain open.
Last week, Ms Ardern ruled out any lockdowns in response to Omicron spread.
However, the raised restrictions will require more mask wearing and social distancing as well as a cap of 100 customers indoors in hospitality settings and events such as weddings, or 25 people if venues are not using vaccine passes.
She said case numbers were low enough to continue using PCR tests rather than RATs for testing and tracing.
But the government is looking into whether higher-grade masks will become mandated.
She also said children above fourth grade would wear masks in schools when the school year begins.
New Zealand had been among the few remaining countries to have avoided any outbreaks of the Omicron variant.
But Ms Ardern acknowledged last week that an outbreak was inevitable given the high transmissibility of the variant.
The country 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.
That has put strain on the quarantine system and prompted the government to limit access for returning citizens while it decides what to do about reopening its borders, angering many people who want to return to New Zealand.
About 93 per cent of New Zealanders aged 12 and over are fully vaccinated and 52 per cent have had a booster shot. The country has just begun vaccinating children aged between 5 and 11.
Ardern cancels her wedding
Ms Ardern told reporters on Sunday that she had cancelled her own wedding in response to the new restrictions, which capped numbers on gatherings.
She said she was sorry for anyone caught up in a similar scenario.
Asked by reporters how she felt about her wedding cancellation, Ms Ardern replied: "Such is life."
"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," Ms Ardern said.
"That will far, far outstrip any sadness I experience."
ABC/Reuters
