New Zealand to allow home isolation for International arrivals; PM announces pilot program

The Prime Minister of New Zealand has announced that its government will begin a pilot programme of home isolation for international travellers ahead of what she anticipates to be increased vaccination levels.

When New Zealanders return home from abroad, they are currently required to stay in hotels for two weeks.

On September 27, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that 150 business visitors arriving between October 30 and December 8 will be included in a test scheme that will allow Kiwis to quarantine at home. Monitoring and testing will be part of the programme.

“The main reason we're doing this self-isolation trial right now is to prepare for a highly vaccinated population,” Ardern explained.

“When more New Zealanders get vaccinated in the first quarter of 2022, it will be safer to run self-isolation at home,” she continued.

According to Ardern, 43% of the eligible population in New Zealand aged 12 and older had been properly vaccinated.

According to her, 82% of the eligible people in Auckland, the country's most populous city, had at least a single dosage of the double-shot Pfizer vaccine after the extremely dangerous delta variant leaked from hotel quarantine on August 17.

New Zealand has taken a zero-tolerance stance to coronavirus, attempting to eradicate the delta type totally.

Meanwhile, in Australia...

Australia's Prime Minister has stated that he expects the country's international borders to be opened before the end of the year. 

On September 27, New South Wales reported 787 new locally acquired cases and 12 deaths in the previous 24 hours. After 70% of the state's population had gotten second doses of vaccine, Sydney's lockdown would be lifted on October 11. The 80% target is projected to be reached two weeks after the 70% milestone, with 85% of the target population already receiving at least one vaccine dose. Unvaccinated people are anticipated to be released from pandemic restrictions on December 1.

Australian authorities have committed to allowing travel within country after the 80% target of inoculation is achieved by the government. Currently, 60% of people aged 16 and above are fully vaccinated while the national average stands at 52%. Basis current vaccination rates, Australia has announced to attain the 80% coverage target by the end of October. Australia has recorded 1,733 fresh COVID cases in the past 24 hours while 1,245 people have succumbed to the virus since the COVID outbreak.

(With inputs from AP)

Image: AP