(CNN) – New Zealand will allow Australians to travel to the country without quarantine, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told a news conference on Tuesday, April 6.
“This is an important step forward in our Covid response and represents an arrangement that I believe I have not seen in any other part of the world. That is, to open international travel safely to another country while we continue to make a strategy of elimination and a commitment to keep the virus out, “Ardern said at the event.
Under the new rules, travelers are not allowed to travel if they have had a positive Covid-19 test or flu-like symptoms during the previous 14 days. The prime minister also said that travel “will not be as it was before”, explaining that flights could be suspended again in the event of a new outbreak, or travelers could be asked to take a PCR test or quarantine , depending on the nature. and origin of the infections.
Ardern also said travelers arriving from Australia would board green zone flights.
“This means that during the last 14 days there will be no passengers on the flight coming from Australia,” Ardern said, adding that the crew operating the connection “for a certain period of time will not be on any high-risk routes. did not fly. . “
“[This] travel bubble is the beginning of a new chapter in our popular response and recovery, one that people have worked so hard on. This makes New Zealand and Australia relatively unique. I know that family, friends and important parts of our economy will welcome it, as I certainly do, ‘said Ardern.
And it is not the only “bubble” in the Asia-Pacific region that has been whispered or postponed amid the ever-changing pandemic situation.
New Zealand’s hard work to curb the virus seems to have paid off. The country has recorded just 2,524 cases and 26 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
CNN’s Lilit Marcus reported.