Omicron has ripped through New Zealand’s borders, placing the country on its highest level of restrictions and cancelling the Prime Minister’s wedding with her fiancé Clarke Gayford.
The wedding was due to take place in the coming weeks at Gisborne on the North Island’s eastern coast.
When asked about her wedding cancellation, Jacinda Ardern responded; “Such is life. I am no different to, dare I say, thousands of other New Zealanders who have had much more devastating impacts felt by the pandemic.
“The most gutting of which is the inability to be with a loved one sometimes when they’re gravely ill. That will far, far outstrip any sadness I experience.”
The new rules state that up to 100 vaccinated people can gather, but the prime minister said her wedding would not proceed in a restricted form.
“My wedding won’t be going ahead but I just join many other New Zealanders who have had an experience like that as a result of the pandemic,” Ardern said.
“And to anyone caught up in that scenario, I am so sorry. But we are all so resilient and I know we understand we are doing this for one another and it will help us carry on.”
Ardern said that the country would try to slow the spread of Omicron, but it was expected New Zealand would reach 1,000 cases a day in the coming weeks and thousands a day after that.
“I know hearing these sorts of case numbers will sound deeply concerning for people to hear,” Ardern said.
“We’ll do everything that we can to slow the spread and reduce the number of cases we experience as a nation.”
