New Zealand PM Ardern says prepared for new Covid-19 variants
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Splash
    • Videos
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Saturday
July 02, 2022

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Splash
    • Videos
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
SATURDAY, JULY 02, 2022
New Zealand PM Ardern says prepared for new Covid-19 variants

Coronavirus chronicle

Reuters
26 November, 2021, 11:45 am
Last modified: 26 November, 2021, 03:22 pm

Related News

  • China says New Zealand PM's comments on assertiveness "wrong"
  • US, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and United Kingdom form Pacific group
  • New Zealand to price sheep and cow burps to cut greenhouse gases
  • New Zealand leader plans to discuss contested Indo-Pacific with Biden on Tuesday
  • New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern tests positive for Covid

New Zealand PM Ardern says prepared for new Covid-19 variants

Ardern's government, under mounting pressure from the tourism industry and other businesses, announced earlier this week it would reopen its borders to fully vaccinated international travellers from 30 April

Reuters
26 November, 2021, 11:45 am
Last modified: 26 November, 2021, 03:22 pm
New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks at a news conference on the coronavirus pandemic in Wellington, New Zealand, February 17, 2021. REUTERS/Praveen Menon/File Photo
New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks at a news conference on the coronavirus pandemic in Wellington, New Zealand, February 17, 2021. REUTERS/Praveen Menon/File Photo

New Zealand is well prepared for the discovery of new coronavirus variants that may be resistant to vaccines, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Friday, including the strain currently spreading in South Africa.

"All of our planning around Covid, we have built into it the possibility of variants in the future," Ardern said in an interview for the upcoming Reuters Next conference.

"That is why we are maintaining levels of public health protections. It's why we've maintained requirements at our border."

Britain on Thursday drew attention to a newly identified coronavirus variant in South Africa with a spike protein that was dramatically different to the one in the original coronavirus that Covid-19 vaccines are based on.

The discovery of the B.1.1.529 strain, which has more mutations than the highly transmissible Delta variant, prompted Britain to rush in travel restrictions on South Africa and five neighbouring countries.

Ardern's government, under mounting pressure from the tourism industry and other businesses, announced earlier this week it would reopen its borders to fully vaccinated international travellers from April 30.

When asked on Friday if the new variant would likely delay that timetable, Ardern said the country will had "a number of inbuilt measures to act as a layer of protection."

"With all our changes, we constantly monitor what is happening with the pandemic as we go and we'll continue to do that," she added.

New Zealand's border has been closed for almost two years. Along with its geographic isolation, the South Pacific country enforced some of the tightest pandemic restrictions among OECD nations, limiting the spread of Covid-19 and helping its economy bounce back faster than many of its peers.

Ardern also said New Zealand had already benefited from being able to observe seasonal impacts of the coronavirus in other countries.

"It gives us the ability to see the impact of things like waning immunity, to see what happens with public health restrictions," Ardern said.

"We are transitioning into a phase now where we see the vaccine do some heavy lifting, but we are maintaining a level of public health restriction."

Top News / World+Biz

New Zealand / New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern / Covid-19 New Variant

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Bangladesh’s maiden underwater expressway tunnel under the Karnaphuli river is expected to open to traffic this December. About 87% of work has already completed and the installation of the road surface is underway in the first tube of the tunnel. PHOTO: Courtesy
    Karnaphuli tunnel: A potential harbinger of growth
  • Condominiums: A way to spacious living
    Condominiums: A way to spacious living
  • Foreign Policy Illustration
    The 1970s weren’t what you think

MOST VIEWED

  • Former North Korean defectors living in South Korea, release balloons containing one dollar banknotes, radios, CDs and leaflets denouncing the North Korean regime, towards the north near the demilitarized zone which separates the two Koreas in Paju, north of Seoul January 15, 2014. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo
    North Korea blames 'alien things' near border with South for Covid outbreak
  • People wearing protective face masks commute amid concerns over the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Pyongyang, North Korea March 30, 2020, in this photo released by Kyodo. Picture taken March 30, 2020. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS
    S Korea says leaflets sent by defectors unlikely to be cause of Covid in N Korea
  • Test tubes are seen in front of displayed Pfizer and Biontech logos in this illustration taken, May 21, 2021. Reuters: llustration
    BioNTech, Pfizer to start testing universal vaccine for coronaviruses
  • A woman holds a small bottle labelled with a "Coronavirus COVID-19 Vaccine" sticker and a medical syringe in this illustration taken October 30, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File Photo
    S Korea approves first domestically developed Covid vaccine
  • Photo: Collected
    US medical experts call for Omicron-specific Covid boosters
  • David E Adler. Sketch: TBS
    Who managed Covid-19 best, and why?

Related News

  • China says New Zealand PM's comments on assertiveness "wrong"
  • US, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and United Kingdom form Pacific group
  • New Zealand to price sheep and cow burps to cut greenhouse gases
  • New Zealand leader plans to discuss contested Indo-Pacific with Biden on Tuesday
  • New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern tests positive for Covid

Features

The eye-catching commuter: Suzuki Gixxer SF 155

The eye-catching commuter: Suzuki Gixxer SF 155

3h | Wheels
Photo: Collected

Sapiens – A Graphic History 

1d | Book Review
Black-naped Monarch male  Photo: Enam Ul Haque

Black-naped Monarch: A sovereign who never abandoned the Indian subcontinent

1d | Panorama
The 136-year-old company on its last legs

The 136-year-old company on its last legs

1d | Features

More Videos from TBS

Dhaka University celebrating 102nd founding anniversary today

Dhaka University celebrating 102nd founding anniversary today

1d | Videos
Ctg Int'l Trade Fair returns after a 2-year hiatus without Covid restrictions

Ctg Int'l Trade Fair returns after a 2-year hiatus without Covid restrictions

1d | Videos
Bangladeshis among top 6 nationalities seeking asylum in Europe

Bangladeshis among top 6 nationalities seeking asylum in Europe

1d | Videos
RUET organises Robotronics 2.0

RUET organises Robotronics 2.0

1d | Videos

Most Read

1
Padma Bridge from satellite. Photo: Screengrab
Bangladesh

Padma Bridge from satellite 

2
Meet the man behind 'Azke amar mon balo nei'
Splash

Meet the man behind 'Azke amar mon balo nei'

3
Photo: TBS
Bangladesh

Motorcycles banned on Padma Bridge 

4
Photo: Collected
Economy

Tech startup ShopUp bags $65m in Series B4 funding

5
World Bank to give Bangladesh $18b IDA loans in next five years
Economy

World Bank to give Bangladesh $18b IDA loans in next five years

6
Investor Hiru fined Tk2cr for market manipulation
Stocks

Investor Hiru fined Tk2cr for market manipulation

EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2022
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab
BENEATH THE SURFACE
The Dazzling Fake Flowers: Is there any alternative to artificial flowers while decorating homes, showrooms, offices and business establishments? Fresh flowers are undoubtedly beautiful, but they dry out quickly. Hence, the demand for plastic flowers is rising day by day. Traders said these lifelike silk flowers usually come from China and Thailand. The photo was taken from the 29th International Trade Fair of the Chattogram Chamber on Friday. PHOTO: Mohammad Minhaj Uddin

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net