New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Friday that the country is well prepared for the new pandemic situation. The newly discovered corona variant has been found to be highly resistant to vaccinations and spreading fast across South Africa.
‘We’ve integrated the prospect of variants into all of our preparation around COVID,’ Ardern said in an interview.
‘That is why we are keeping public health protections at current levels. That’s why we’ve kept our border rules in place.’
On Thursday, the United Kingdom raised awareness of a newly discovered coronavirus variation in South Africa with a spike protein that differed significantly from the one found in the original coronavirus on which COVID-19 vaccines were based.
Following the discovery of the B.1.1.529 strain, which contains more mutations than the highly transmissible Delta variety, Britain imposed immediate travel restrictions on South Africa and five neighbouring nations.
Under pressure from the tourism industry and other industries, Ardern’s administration stated earlier this week that it will reopen its borders to fully vaccinated international travellers starting from April 30 next year.
The border between New Zealand and Australia has been blocked for nearly two years. In addition to its geographic isolation, the South Pacific country imposed some of the most stringent pandemic restrictions among OECD countries, slowing the spread of COVID-19 and assisting its economy in recovering faster than many of its counterparts.
Ardern also stated that being able to observe the coronavirus’s seasonal impacts in other countries had already benefitted New Zealand.
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