New Zealand’s prime minister has given some Kiwis a welcome early Christmas present. She has announced that newly relaxed Covid-19 restrictions, based on a “traffic light system,” allow for intimate liaisons of up to 25 people.
Speaking in an interview with New Zealand’s Seven Sharp on December 3, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the traffic light system, which is being implemented as the country reopens from strict Covid-19 measures, would allow for the most personal of gatherings.
Having been asked to explain some of the finer details of the system, Ardern said: “I can confirm that Tinder liaisons have reopened.”
She added: “It’s not strictly embedded in the traffic light system, but, um, it is a given – up to 25, actually, in a ‘red’ area.”
The prime minister understandably appeared a little uncomfortable as she responded to the interviewer, avoiding eye contact with the camera and laughing to herself as she announced the ‘good’ news.
New Zealand moved to a traffic light system with freedoms based on whether people live in red, amber or green areas. The decision came despite global fears about the Omicron variant, which partially evades vaccine-induced immunity.
The country has had some of the strictest Covid-19 rules in the world during the pandemic and retains tough border restrictions. Ardern has said the authorities are working hard to avoid introducing the Omicron variant into the country.