In October, New Zealand Prime Minister officially abandoned the country’s COVID elimination strategy, claiming the Delta variant was “a tentacle that has been incredibly hard to shake”.
Yet despite New Zealand’s high vaccination rate, whereby 76% of the total population is at least double vaccinated, the isolation period for positive cases has been extended to 14 days, with household contacts now required to isolate for up to 24 days:
The Ministry of Health on Friday announced it would extend the isolation period for people with Covid-19 and their household contacts, increasing it to at least 14 days, including 72 hours symptom-free. The isolation period was previously 10 days.