Jacinda Ardern, the New Zealand Prime Minister who led the island nation through the pandemic, has tested positive for the coronavirus, her office said Saturday.
Ms Ardern has had moderate symptoms since Friday night, her office said, adding that she has been in isolation since her partner, Clarke Gayford, tested positive last Sunday.
Ms Ardern must isolate until May 21 in the morning and will not be in parliament this week to publish an emissions reduction plan on Monday or the budget on Thursday, according to her office.
“This is a landmark week for the government and I am gutted that I cannot be for it,” Ms Ardern said in the statement. “Our emissions reduction plan is paving the way to reach our zero carbon target and the budget is focused on the long-term future and the safety of New Zealand’s health system.”
The positive test will not “at this stage” affect a trade mission to the United States later this month, her office said. According to the university, Ms. Ardern will also deliver a kick-off speech at Harvard on May 26.
New Zealand enforced some of the world’s strictest coronavirus restrictions, especially on international travel, in a bid to keep the pandemic plaguing the rest of the world at bay. And it largely succeeded, until an outbreak of the highly contagious Omicron variant broke out this spring.
But by the time Omicron arrived, the land was well protected. Vaccination coverage in New Zealand is high: 83 percent of the total population is fully vaccinated. Coronavirus cases have been flat for the past two weeks and the population of five million people averages about 7,600 new daily cases and fewer than 14 daily deaths.
With New Zealanders increasingly unhappy with pandemic restrictions, the country has recently relaxed its Covid-19 rules. Earlier this month, travelers from around the world poured into the island after it began admitting visitors from more than 60 countries for the first time in two years. New Zealand reopened in April to tourists from its closest neighbour, Australia.
