The New Zealand Ministry of Health on Dec. 29 confirmed that a border-related case of the Omicron variant had been active in the community of its most populated city for a brief period from Dec. 26 to Dec. 27. The individual tested positive for COVID-19 on Dec. 27, after self-isolating for nine days. However he did not wait for a negative test result before leaving the self-isolation site, according to a Ministry of Health spokesperson who spoke to the NZ Herald. “They had previously returned three negative tests for COVID-19 while completing 7 days of managed isolation at a facility in Auckland,” the Ministry of Health said in a statement. The case arrived on a flight from the United Kingdom via Doha on Dec. 16 and was reportedly fully vaccinated with an mRNA vaccine. The person visited several venues over the course of two days after leaving the self-isolating site. …