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Updated November 24th, 2021 at 13:34 IST

New Zealand to gradually allow fully vaccinated international visitors from next year

New Zealand has decided to reopen the international borders for New Zealanders from January 2022. Foreign nationals will be allowed to enter from April 2022.

Reported by: Amrit Burman
New Zealand
Image: AP | Image:self
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With a decline in COVID cases, the New Zealand government has decided to reopen the international borders for New Zealanders from January 2022, and foreign nationals will be allowed to enter New Zealand from April onwards, ANI reported. The government has also removed the requirement for managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) for most travellers, said COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins on Wednesday. According to a plan announced by Hipkins at a press conference, fully vaccinated Kiwis and other eligible travellers will be able to travel to New Zealand from Australia without staying in the quarantine zone, and this plan will come into action at 11:59 pm local time on February 13, 2022. From April 30, 2022, onwards, all those individuals who are fully vaccinated will be able to travel to New Zealand from April 30, 2022, onwards, with the reopening staged over time.

"Closing our border was one of the first steps we took to keep our country safe from COVID-19, and it'll be the last thing we open up, following our transition into the traffic light protection framework system and the lifting of the Auckland boundary, "he said, as per ANI report.

However, all travellers will have to show a pre-departure negative PCR test, along with vaccination proof, a day 0/1 test on arrival, a requirement to self-isolate for seven days, and a final PCR test before entering the community, as per the government's reconnecting strategy. "It’s very encouraging that as a country we are now in a position to move towards greater normality," Hipkins said. He further said that the strategy to curtail the spread of COVID will continue to be reviewed against the risk posed by travellers entering New Zealand. "The border is our biggest risk for new cases," Hipkins said. Further details on the COVID-19 restriction will be issued in December, including guidance on how people can travel from their arrival airport to their location of self-isolation and other requirements.

COVID-19 situation in New Zealand

The country reported 215 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, taking the total number of confirmed cases in the country's current community outbreak to 7,484. According to the Health Ministry, Auckland has 181 cases of the new infection, with a total of 87 COVID patients being treated in hospitals, including eight in ICUs due to critical conditions. So far, the country has reported a total of 10,241 COVID cases, and more than 90% of the eligible population in New Zealand have received their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, and 84 percent are fully vaccinated.

With Inputs from ANI

Image: AP

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Published November 24th, 2021 at 13:34 IST

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