The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern has been praised worldwide for her proactive and effective response to the coronavirus pandemic. The island nation has had just over 1,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and Ardern announced late in April that her country had “eliminated” the coronavirus post stringent lockdown measures.
However, recently, she found out that there were absolutely no exceptions to the social distancing rules that she herself set for her country. Ardern and her partner Clarke Gayford were turned away from a cafe as it was at full capacity under physical distancing rules!
From mid-last week, New Zealand relaxed quite a few of its lockdown measures and rules, which included opening movie theatres, restaurants, and cafes. However, according to government mandates, stringent hygiene measures and social distancing rules apply. Many restaurants and cafes have, accordingly, limited their seating capacity to adhere to these regulations.
On Saturday, 16th March 2020, Ardern and her partner decided to go out for brunch at Olive, a restaurant in the capital of New Zealand, Wellington. But, the couple was turned away because the cafe had already reached its seating capacity.
One user on Twitter called Joey put up a post on Twitter, confirming the news.
Omg Jacinda Ardern just tried to come into Olive and was rejected cause it’s full. 💀
— Joey 🧜🏻♂️ (@reinvention) May 15, 2020
And Ardern’s partner Clarke Gayford replied to the tweet, saying that he would take responsibility for this and that hadn’t booked anywhere.
He also clarified that, fortunately, the staff of the cafe chased them down the street when a spot freed up. He also rated the cafe A+ for their amazing service!
I have to take responsibility for this, I didn’t get organized and book anywhere. Was very nice of them to chase us down st when a spot freed up. A+ service.
— Clarke Gayford (@NZClarke) May 16, 2020
It is really heartening to see a leader that follows rules just like others, and with such amazing grace and poise! Do you agree? Let us know your views on this in the comments section below.
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