New Zealand is ending the requirement for inbound travelers to isolate as it continues to remove coronavirus border security in the face of a growing domestic outbreak.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Monday that the requirement to isolate vaccinated travelers for a week after arrival would end on Wednesday. Initially, the changes will only apply to returning New Zealanders, as tourists are still not allowed to visit.
Travelers must still test negative for the virus before departure and after arrival.
“I know this is welcome news for members of our team abroad who are eager to get home and see their loved ones as soon as possible,” Ardern said. “We can’t wait to see you.”
The changes were welcomed by the tourism industry, although leaders wanted more certainty about when tourists could return. International tourism used to account for about 20% of New Zealand’s foreign income, but has evaporated since the start of the pandemic.
Ardern said on Monday that her cabinet is considering fully reopening borders to tourists, ahead of the currently planned July date for Australians and October for people from elsewhere in the world.
Earlier this month, the government announced it would end a requirement that most inbound travelers spend time in military-operated quarantine hotel rooms. For the time being, this requirement continues to apply to unvaccinated travelers.
New Zealand implemented some of the world’s strictest border controls when the pandemic began. The measures were initially credited with saving thousands of lives and enabled New Zealand to eliminate or contain several outbreaks.
But in a world where the virus is becoming endemic and in a country where it is now spreading rapidly, control is increasingly out of step.
New Zealand is registering about 15,000 cases of Covid-19 a day, up from 2,000 just 10 days ago when an outbreak of the omicron variant spread.
Some of Ardern’s political opponents have long called for the easing of border restrictions and welcomed the move, though they said it should immediately apply to tourists too.
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