Ardern: NZ moving into red over omicron spread

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced that the whole of New Zealand will move to a red setting from 11:59pm on Sunday.

Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand Prime Minister said “At red, in many ways, life carries on as per usual but with more mask wearing and distancing precautions and reducing gathering limits to lower the risk of picking up the virus in super spreader events. Red is not lockdown. At red businesses stay open and you can do most of the things that you normally do including visiting family and friends and moving around the country."

The decision comes after it has come to light that the omicron variant of COVID-19 has started to spread in the New Zealand community after potential super spreader events involving one family on 13 January.