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New Zealand opens up ‘travel bubble’ with Australia

Quarantine-free travel between Australia and New Zealand will be allowed later this month.

A ‘Trans-Tasman bubble’ has been enabled by New Zealand’s successful management of Covid-19.

Residents from either country will be able to move between the two nations from April 19. 

New Zealand travellers have been allowed to enter most Australian states without quarantine since October, but this had not been reciprocated.

New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern announced the relaxation of travel measures today.

She said: “Our team’s success in managing Covid-19 and keeping it out over the past 12 months now opens up the opportunity to reconnect with loved ones and resume trans-Tasman travel.

“One sacrifice that has been particularly hard for many to bear over the past year has been the separation from friends and family who live in Australia, so today’s announcement will be a great relief for many.

“The bubble will give our economic recovery a boost and represents a world leading arrangement of safely opening up international travel while continuing to pursue a strategy of elimination and keeping the virus out.

“We have worked hard to ensure travel is safe and that the necessary public health measures are in place.”

However, Ardern added: “Quarantine free travel will not be what it was pre-Covid-19, and those undertaking travel will do so under the guidance of ‘flyer beware’. People will need to plan for the possibility of having travel disrupted if there is an outbreak.

“Just as we have our alert level settings for managing cases in New Zealand, we will also now have a framework for managing New Zealanders in the event of an outbreak in Australia, which involves three possible scenarios: continue, pause, suspend.”

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