C T Online Desk: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern remained isolated on Sunday as the country recorded 103 new COVID-19 infections and its stringent border controls were highlighted by a pregnant journalist who said she was trapped in Afghanistan.
Ardern, in self-isolation until Tuesday, took a coronavirus test on Sunday after being exposed to an infected person. The results were expected later Sunday or Monday, his office said.
Journalist Charlotte Bellis said in a New Zealand Herald article that she could not return from Afghanistan, where she had been reporting, after Ardern’s government rejected her request for exemption to enter.
“When the Taliban offer you – a pregnant, single woman – a safe haven, you know your situation is screwed up,” Bellis wrote, saying she was trapped with her Belgian partner.
His request was rejected because it was for travel outside the 14 days allowed after the request, immigration and health officials told the newspaper. They reportedly said the matter needed further explanation and that Bellis had been “invited” to reapply within the 14-day period.
Chris Bunny, head of managed isolation and quarantine in New Zealand, told the newspaper that the department had not received confirmation that Bellis intended to bring his flights up.
She said she chose travel dates outside the window due to the scarcity of flights from Kabul and to “give us time to appeal if we were rejected”.
The quarantine agency did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
New Zealand’s borders have been closed to foreigners since March 2020. The government pushed back plans for a gradual reopening from mid-January to the end of February over fears of a possible outbreak of Omicron, like in neighboring Australia.
A country of five million people, New Zealand has recorded 15,910 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 52 deaths.
Source: Agency
