Omicron: no national lockdowns, elimination ‘nigh on impossible’ – Ardern

Omicron: no national lockdowns, elimination ‘nigh on impossible’ – Ardern
Prime minister Jacinda Ardern speaks to the media in New Plymouth. (Image: Pattrick Smellie)
Pattrick Smellie
New Zealand will return quickly to the ‘red’ traffic light covid protection setting when the omicron variant of covid-19 starts getting established in the community, but there will be no return to nationwide lockdowns, prime minister Jacinda Ardern has announced.Describing the elimination of omicron as “nigh on impossible”, Ardern made clear that the government will try to slow the pace of infection to keep as much strain as possible off the hospital system.She also promised that rapid antigen tests would be distributed...

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