New Zealand Plans to Drop All Travel Restrictions by October
A phased reopening of New Zealand’s borders is planned for this month after almost two years of tough Covid restrictions.
The aim is for the country to fully reopen to all international visitors from October – in time for the southern hemisphere summer.
Vaccinated New Zealanders and other eligible travellers in Australia will be allowed access from February 27, while jabbed citizens from the rest of the world will be allowed back from March 13.
They will still have to self-isolate for ten days but a mandatory state quarantine scheme will be dropped.
Five stages have been outlined by the New Zealand government:
Step 1: Fully vaccinated New Zealanders from Australia can return home from February 27
Step 2: Fully jabbed citizens from all other countries are able to arrive from March 13. This also applies to a number of critical and skilled foreign workers
Step 3: Up to 5,000 international students are allowed into the country from April 12
Step 4: Australians and all other visitors who can normally travel visa-free to New Zealand are expected to be able to travel to the country no later than July
Step 5: Begins in October and includes all other visitors and students who normally require a visa
A statement said: “The government’s reconnecting plan will see all New Zealanders and key visa holders able to start to enter the country over the coming three months, assisting with the economic recovery and immediately address worker shortages.
“This is a very carefully developed plan that replaces managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) for the vast majority of travellers while ensuring we maintain ongoing measures to reduce the spread of Covid-19 in our community from recent arrivals.
“With 94% of our population fully vaccinated, and 92% of those over 18 now eligible for a booster by the end of February it’s time to shift gears in our Covid-19 response to focus on reconnection and recovery.
“By reducing the gap to get boosted to three months we’re ensuring we reach our highest possible boosted rates before fully reopening.”
New Zealand is expected to be one of the most vaccinated and most boosted countries in the world by the time the border starts to be reopened and a Covid-19 ‘protection framework’ will be well established in helping to manage outbreaks.
“Our plan has built-in protections to help manage risks such as future variants,” the government added.
“A phased approach to reopening reduces the risk of a surge of cases while prioritising the return of New Zealanders and much-needed entry of skilled workers.
“Having MIQ for every traveller was a temporary setting for when none of us had protection.
“New Zealanders need to reconnect with one another. Families and friends need to reunite. Our businesses need skills to grow. Exporters need to travel to make new connections.”
Prime minister Jacinda Ardern said: “Opening back up in this managed way balances inflows of travellers so people can reunite and fill our workforce shortages, while also ensuring our healthcare system can manage an increase in cases.”
Source: Travelweekly