New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, announced on Saturday that she’s self-isolating after having been in close contact with a person infected with the coronavirus. 

The exposure occurred on a flight from Kerikeri to the largest city of Auckland. Cindy Kiro, the Governor-General of New Zealand, was also on the January 22 flight and has gone into self-isolation. 

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Both the women were in the Northland region previously, doing some filming for the upcoming Waitangi Day, which is New Zealand’s national day, celebrated on February 6. 

The Prime Minister’s office released a statement, following Ardern’s decision to self-isolate. It said, “The Prime Minister is asymptomatic and is feeling well. In line with Ministry of Health advice she will be tested immediately tomorrow and will isolate until Tuesday.” 

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Already, health officials have listed that dozens of flights could be exposure events, and could indicate that one or more members of the flight crew were infected. Though genome sequencing is expected to be completed on Sunday, officials are expecting the infected person to have the omicron variant. 

Notably, New Zealand has managed to contain the coronavirus, and even stamp it out, for a major part of the pandemic. However, with the highly infectious omicron variant, becoming the globally dominant one in the world, the country faces an increased risk of infections. To that end, Ardern already announced that New Zealand has entered the ‘red light‘ setting. Based on traffic lights, this system gives New Zealand a colour-coded way of dealing with the severity of the omicron situation. 

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Under the new rules, several impositions are in place, especially for those who are unvaccinated. However, the Prime Minister assured citizens that the ‘red light’ setting didn’t indicate a nationwide lockdown. Accordingly, free movement is allowed all throughout the country, without vaccination certificates, unless one chooses to travel by ferry or airline. 

[Edited with AP inputs]