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New Zealand drops mask and vaccine mandates in sweeping Covid changes

Jacinda Ardern says it is time to ‘turn the page’ on the pandemic as she scraps all but a handful of restrictions

New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has announced relaxation of most of the country’s Covid-19 restrictions. Photograph: Phil Walter/Getty Images

Australian Associated Press

Jacinda Ardern has declared it “time to safely turn the page” on New Zealand’s Covid-19 restrictions, scrapping all but a handful of remaining rules.

New Zealand, which once eliminated the virus through the toughest pandemic rules in the world, has made relaxations similar to Australian or European conditions.

Mask-wearing will no longer be mandatory in public places, and the last vaccine mandates will be ditched in two weeks under sweeping changes announced by the prime minister on Monday.

However, the government is sticking by a seven-day isolation period for people with virus, defying calls to shorten isolation to five days.