New Zealand has extended its isolation period for Covid cases from ten days to 14 days. The extension is in response to the increased infectiousness of the Omicron variant.Close contacts of cases, who were previously required to isolate for seven days, must now isolate for 10 days.
The change comes after a person in Palmerston North tested positive for the Omicron variant after they were released from a managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) facility in Christchurch on January 16. During their isolation period, the person returned five negative Covid-19 tests, but became symptomatic and tested positive three days after they were released.
** FULLY PAID ISOLATION OF INFECTED PEOPLE after a confirmed test is the sort of mitigation governments should have been focusing on from the very first day of the pandemic, rather than pinning all of their hopes on the single line of defence of repeated vaccinations. **
