The New Zealand government will declare the date for the opening of the "trans-Tasman bubble" on April 6. The "trans-Tasman bubble" will allow visitors from Australia to enter New Zealand without the compulsory two-week quarantine in government-managed isolation facilities, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday, as reported by Xinhua.
Currently, New Zealanders can go to some Australian states without being quarantined in managed isolation facilities. New Zealand's border has been closed to all but residents and citizens, with a few exemptions, since March 2020.
Before the pandemic, there were usually about 6,000 Australian people visiting New Zealand on a daily basis, local media reported. Meanwhile, a two-way quarantine-free journey with the Cook Islands and Niue, both realm countries of New Zealand, is also on the cards.
Cook Islands residents can already travel to New Zealand without the need to quarantine, while Niueans will be able to do the same from Wednesday onwards.
The government will also work on contact tracing requirements, QR codes, arrangements of testing that might or not be required, between now and 6 April, Ardern said.
Ardern says the issue for those who believe the travel bubble is a simple thing to deliver is that decisions will not always be made in parallel between the two countries, and there is complexity for singular decisions made on either side that could lead to people being stranded.
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