Jacinda, New Zealand’s prime minister, proved herself to be a team player after she cancelled her wedding to bring in new restrictions.
The 41-year-old was supposed to tie the knot with fiancé Clarke Gayford next weekend at Gisborne on the North Island’s eastern coast, according to Sky News. Ardern, however, announced new measures to stop the spread of Omicron variants in the country.
This is after nine confirmed cases were identified earlier in the month by a single family that flew to Auckland for a marriage. Independent reported.
As a result, New Zealand will now move into the “red setting” from Monday, January 24th. The new measures mean mandatory mask-wearing and limited social gathering “for some weeks.” Though schools will remain open, and while workplaces are also open, working from home is encouraged.
“Such is life,”Ardern spoke out when she discussed the cancellation.
“I am no different from, dare I say, thousands of New Zealanders who suffered more severe effects due to the pandemic,” she said.
Ardern explained to reporters, “The plan is to keep case number down through contact trace and rapid testing.”
“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,”The prime minister clarified.
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People have been responding to the news on Twitter. They praised Ardern’s leadership, even though it meant that she had to make a personal sacrifice by postponing their wedding.
Brits could not help but to compare the New Zealand leader’s selflessness with that of Boris Johnson in the UK, who many believe had behaved in an entirely different manner during the Partygate scandal.
Someone did however point out that Johnson also had to cancel his wedding plans during the pandemic. Carrie Johnson eventually got married in May 2021.
We now know that Downing Street was also rumored to have been partying on other occasions.
Ardern should be able to allow the New Zealand Omicron variant to be controlled. This will allow Ardern to ease restrictions for New Zealanders, and eventually allow the wedding. Lorde from New Zealand suggested Green Light, the perfect song for the occasion.