Sat 14 May 2022:
Despite testing positive for COVID-19, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she still planned to visit the United States later this month for a trade trip and to deliver the commencement speech at Harvard University.
Ardern said she was disappointed to miss several significant political announcements during the coming week, including the unveiling of the government’s annual budget and a strategy to cut greenhouse gas emissions, in an Instagram post on Saturday.
“I’m gutted to miss being there in person, but will be staying in close touch with the team and sharing some reckons from here,” she wrote.
Ardern, who is fully vaccinated, had been isolating at her Wellington residence since Sunday after her fiancé Clarke Gayford tested positive for the virus. Under New Zealand’s health rules, people must isolate for seven days if somebody in their household tests positive.
Ardern said she returned a weak positive rapid antigen test on Friday night and then a strong positive test on Saturday morning.
She also disclosed that the couple’s 3-year-old daughter, Neve, had tested positive for the virus on Wednesday.
“Despite best efforts, unfortunately I’ve joined the rest of my family and have tested positive for COVID 19,” Ardern wrote.
She said that “To anyone else out there, isolating or dealing with COVID, I hope you take good care of yourselves!”
Ardern didn’t mention her symptoms in her tweet, but her office stated in a statement that she started feeling symptoms on Friday.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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