INTERNATIONAL: Omicron spreads in New Zealand, spoiling prime minister’s wedding plans.New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced on Sunday ,January 23, that she had cancelled her wedding as new restrictions were imposed across the nation to slow the community spread of an COVID-19 Omicron outbreak , after nine cases of the omicron variant in a single family that flew to Auckland to attend a wedding were discovered.

The so-called “red setting” of the country’s pandemic response includes heightened measures such as required mask wearing and limits on gatherings. The restrictions will go into effect on Monday.

New Zealand will impose mask rules and limit gathering from midnight on Sunday after a cluster of nine COVID-19 Omicron cases have showed community spread from the North to South islands after a wedding.

The New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says, "As for mine, 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. And to anyone who's caught up in that scenario, I'm so sorry, but we are all so resilient and I know we understand that we are doing this for one another and I know that it will help us continue on. Such is life."

A family returned to Nelson in the South Island by plane after attending a wedding and other events in Auckland in the North Island. The family and a flight attendant have tested positive.

New Zealand will move to a red setting under its COVID-19 protection framework, with more mask wearing. Indoor hospitality settings such as bars and restaurants and events like weddings will be capped at 100 people. The limit is lowered to 25 people if venues are not using vaccine passes, Ardern said.

New Zealand's borders have been shut to foreigners since March 2020. The government pushed back plans for a phased reopening from mid-January to the end of February out of concern about a potential Omicron outbreak as in neighbouring Australia.

About 94 percent of New Zealand's population over the age of 12 is fully vaccinated and about 56% of those eligible have had booster shots.

^{PHOTO: SOUNDBITES FROM NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTER JACINDA ARDERN, ARDERN IN NEWS CONFERENCE}