WELLINGTON: Quarantine free travel from Australia's Victoria state to New Zealand will be suspended from 1:59 am Friday local time, New Zealand's COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said on Thursday. Chris Hipkins said the decision followed updated public health advice from New Zealand officials and a growing number of cases and locations of interest. The suspension will last for at least four days and be subject to further review on July 19, he said.

"As with previous pauses, we acknowledge the frustration and inconvenience that comes with any interruption to Trans-Tasman travel, but given the ongoing level of uncertainty around transmission in Melbourne, this is the right action to take," the minister said. The suspension means anyone who has been in Victoria after 1.59 a.m. on Friday cannot travel to New Zealand from any state in Australia until further notice, he added.

Quarantine free travel from Australia's New South Wales state remains paused and managed return flights are still in place meaning travellers will have to go into managed isolation for 14 days after arriving in New Zealand, Hipkins said.

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