New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern tests negative for COVID-19

WELLINGTON: JAN. 31 – Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern has tested negative for COVID-19 after getting exposed to the coronavirus on a flight to Auckland, her spokesperson said.

“The Prime Minister has returned a negative Covid-19 test. In line with Ministry of Health guidance she is required to continue isolating until the end of Tuesday, February 1, or as otherwise advised by Public Health,” the spokesperson said as quoted by The New Zealand Herald on Monday. Ardern had to isolate on Saturday after a flight attendant on her plane heading from Kerikeri to Auckland tested positive for the Omicron variant.

According to The New Zealand Herald, the prime minister took a PCR test on Sunday morning. Her chief press secretary Andrew Campbell confirmed to the newspaper on Monday that he had also tested negative.

Earlier this month, Ardern cancelled her own wedding as New Zealand was preparing to move to the red COVID-19 alert level amid the spread of Omicron. The prime minister had planned to get married to her partner Clarke Gayford this summer in Gisborne, according to The New Zealand Herald. The two have a daughter, Neve.

-ANI/Sputnik