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| New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern -- who is hosting the summit -- has said fellow leaders need to be more ambitious about fighting climate change. (File photo by= AFP) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] WELLINGTON: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who has overseen her country's world-leading response to the coronavirus pandemic, has tested positive for COVID-19, her office announced Saturday (May 14). Ardern's symptoms are moderate and she will isolate at home for seven days, the government said in a statement, AFP reported.
She has already been in isolation since last Sunday, when her partner Clarke Gayford tested positive and was due to resume her parliamentary duties on Monday. The statement said Ardern's arrangements for her upcoming trade mission to the United States are unaffected. Details of the trip are still to be confirmed, although she is scheduled to deliver the commencement address at Harvard University on May 26.
Ardern shared a photo of her positive test on Instagram. Ardern will not be present in parliament for two high-profile domestic announcements - the release of the government's emissions reduction plan on Monday and the unveiling of the annual budget on Thursday. New Zealand enforced one of the world's most restrictive approaches to managing the initial COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, and its death toll of 892 remains among the lowest of developed nations.
