Fauci said the Omicron variant appears to be returning to its “proper course.”

New Zealand introduced on Sunday that it could impose its highest stage of Covid restrictions throughout the nation at midnight, after a minimum of 9 circumstances of the extremely transmissible Omicron variant had been reported.

The circumstances, within the South Island city of Nelson, are the primary Omicron infections detected exterior of staff linked to the worldwide airport or the nation’s resort quarantine services. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern stated a number of the contaminated individuals had attended a big wedding ceremony in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest metropolis.

“Meaning Omicron is now circulating in Auckland and probably the Nelson-Marlborough area, if not elsewhere,” Ms. Ardern stated at a information convention saying the restrictions.

New Zealand was pursuing a zero-Covid technique till final yr, when a serious outbreak of the Delta variant pressured it to surrender these aspirations. However its numbers have remained low. Over the past two months, New Zealand has reported only a few dozen new circumstances per day.

It was unclear how the individuals in Nelson — members of a single, multigenerational household — had contracted the virus, although Ms. Ardern stated they’d lately flown on the identical Air New Zealand flight as an air steward who later examined constructive with Omicron.

Ms. Ardern stated the brand new measures, categorised as “Crimson” below the nation’s traffic-light-based system, had been “not lockdown.”

“At Crimson, companies keep open and you are able to do most of issues that you simply usually do, together with visiting household and pals and touring across the nation,” she stated.

However people who find themselves not vaccinated will face vital restrictions, together with being barred from worship providers and from companies that serve meals or drinks. Colleges will keep open, however all pupils from third grade up should put on masks. Occasions like weddings and funerals will likely be restricted to 100 individuals, all of whom have to be vaccinated. (If unvaccinated individuals attend, the restrict is lowered to 25.)

Greater than 93 % of New Zealand’s inhabitants aged 12 and up are thought-about totally vaccinated in opposition to the coronavirus, however solely 23 % have acquired a booster shot. The brand new restrictions are anticipated to be stored in place for quite a lot of weeks as extra booster photographs are distributed.

On Friday, New Zealand introduced that individuals who check constructive for the virus would want to isolate for 14 days, up from 10. Their shut contacts should now isolate for 10 days, as a substitute of every week.

The Omicron variant has introduced the pandemic to a number of the most distant areas of the world this week. Some island nations within the Pacific recorded their first circumstances, prompting the primary lockdowns of the pandemic in Kiribati and Samoa.

On the information convention, Ms. Ardern stated that her wedding ceremony to her accomplice, the tv host Clarke Gayford, wouldn’t be held within the coming weeks as deliberate.

“I’m no completely different to, dare I say it, 1000’s of different New Zealanders who’ve had far more devastating impacts from the pandemic,” she stated of the postponement. “Essentially the most gutting of which is the shortcoming to be with a cherished one when they’re gravely unwell — that can far, far outstrip any disappointment I expertise.”