Nuptials delayed in New Zealand

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Jacinda Ardern, prime minister of New Zealand, is postponing her wedding after announcing new COVID-19 restrictions Sunday following the discovery of nine cases of the Omicron variant in a family that flew to Auckland to attend a wedding.

The “red” setting of the country’s pandemic response includes heightened measures such as required use of masks and limits on gatherings. The restrictions go into effect Monday.

Ardern stressed that “red is not lockdown,” noting that businesses can remain open, and people can visit with one another and move freely around the country.

“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,” Ardern told reporters.

But her own wedding plans are on hold.

The 41-year-old prime minister was planning to tie the knot next weekend with longtime partner Clarke Gayford.

“I just join many other New Zealanders who have had an experience like that as a result of the pandemic, and to anyone who’s caught up in that scenario, I am so sorry,” Ardern said.

New Zealand had been among the few countries to have avoided outbreaks of Omicron, but Ardern last week acknowledged that an outbreak was inevitable, given the high transmissibility of the coronavirus variant.

New Zealand has managed to contain the spread of the Delta variant, with an average of 20 new cases each day.

But the country has seen an increasing number of people arriving and going into mandatory quarantine who are infected with Omicron. That has put a strain on the quarantine system and prompted the government to limit access for returning citizens while it decides what to do about reopening its borders — angering many who want to return.

About 93% of New Zealand’s population age 12 and older are fully vaccinated, and 52% have had a booster shot. The country has just begun vaccinating children between the ages of 5 and 11.