First case of Omicron variant detected in New Zealand –

The news fell on Thursday: The country of the Long White Cloud had its first positive case with the Omicron variant. The first, while Australia was affected at the end of November. The patient is currently isolated in a hotel in the southern city of Christchurch. She arrived from Germany, crossed Dubai, and was doubly vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine.

After the announcement, New Zealand health experts urged the local government to delay opening borders, reconsider home isolation and restricting passenger arrivals from the UK. In fact, the state recently recorded nearly 80,000 positive cases of the Omicron variant in a single day. The latest data from the World Health Organization indicates that the Omicron variant is spreading at an unprecedented rate and is likely to exceed the transmission characteristics of the delta variant.

At the end of November, Chris Hepkins, the minister in charge of combating Covid-19, announced that fully vaccinated Kiwi travelers returning from all countries will not be required to remain in isolation in a hotel but at home, from February 14, 2022. For New Zealand citizens and residents returning from Australia, the date has been set for January 17. And for all vaccinators, regardless of their country of origin, the date retained is April 30th.

But with Omicron’s arrival, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said earlier this week that those dates could change. Now that the surrogate has officially entered the territory of New Zealand, what decisions will be made?

For Michael Baker, a health expert, the government must decide whether to keep the variant out of the country or make sure it can live with it. He recommends delaying the opening of the border to Australians by a month and delaying the end of the hotel quarantine.

As a reminder, in March 2020, while Covid-19 was spreading seriously in many countries, New Zealand was the first territory to strictly shut down its air and sea borders. A scale considered to be one of the most severe in the world; Soon, many followed the same guidance.