New Zealand Covid chief’s farewell party ruined … by Covid

New Zealand’s Covid chief has had his farewell party scuppered by a rising wave of Omicron cases.

“We’ve canceled karaoke,” the director general of health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, said when questioned about his plans for farewelling the high-stress role. “We’ll do that later in the year, I hope, if the staff still want to come.”

The cancellation reflects an increasingly gloomy outlook for New Zealand’s winter season, with high rates of Covid-19 and other winter illnesses stretching the health system. On Tuesday, New Zealand announced 10,424 cases and 21 deaths.

Bloomfield was catapulted from background civil servant to national celebrity during the country’s Covid response, where he fronted most of the press conferences and daily updates on the pandemic. He announced his resignation from the role in April, and is due to hand over the reins this month.

Asked at a press conference whether New Zealanders should be limiting large social gatherings, he used his own upcoming party as an example, saying the large, formal event planned by the ministry had been called off.

“We’ve now gone for a much smaller, modest event with no food and drink. Everyone will be wearing masks and the large number of people that were invited will be joining via zoom,” Bloomfield said.

That austere affair is a sad contrast to previous plans. When asked about his leaving in April, Bloomfield had said “heck yes” on the matter of karaoke, and that “probably I’ll kick off with Friday I’m in Love by The Cure”.

His rendition is not the only social calendar casualty of Omicron. The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, announced in January that she was canceling her wedding, as the variant began spreading in New Zealand and large gatherings were canceled or postponed.

With cases again soaring, officials are asking that New Zealanders protect the health system by wearing masks, staying home if sick, getting booster vaccinations and avoiding shared, unventilated spaces.