New Zealand PM Jacida Ardern cancels wedding amid latest Omicron restrictions

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has cancelled her wedding as the nation imposes new restrictions to slow the community spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus.

The so-called “red setting” of the country’s pandemic response includes heightened measures such as required mask-wearing and limits on gatherings; the restrictions will go into effect on Monday.

Indoor hospitality settings such as bars and restaurants along with events like weddings will be capped at 100 people. The limit is lowered to 25 people if venues are not using vaccine passes.

Ardern stressed that “red is not lockdown,” noting that businesses can remain open and people can still visit family and friends and move freely around the country.

“Our plan for managing Omicron cases in the early stage remains the same as Delta, where we will rapidly test, contact trace and isolate cases and contacts in order to slow the spread,” Ardern told reporters in Wellington on Sunday.

New Zealand had been among the few remaining countries to have avoided any outbreaks of the Omicron variant, but 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.

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.

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.