New Zealand Borders to Reopen in Stages Starting this Month

After nearly two years of tight Covid restrictions, New Zealand’s borders will be reopened in stages starting this month.

The goal is to reopen the country to all international visitors in October, just in time for the summer in the southern hemisphere.

Vaccinated New Zealanders and other eligible visitors to Australia will be permitted entry beginning 27th February, while jabbed people from the rest of the globe will be permitted entry from 13th March.

They will still be required to self-isolate for ten days, but the state’s mandatory quarantine program will be eliminated.

The New Zealand government has specified five stages:

• Step 1: New Zealanders who have been fully vaccinated in Australia can return home starting 27th February.
• Step 2: Beginning 13th March, citizens of all other countries who have been fully vaccinated may enter the country. This is also true for a number of highly trained international workers.
• Step 3: Beginning 12th April, up to 5,000 international students will be allowed to enter the country.
• Step 4: Australians and other travelers who regularly go to New Zealand without a visa are expected to be able to visit the nation by July.
• Step 5: Starts in October and includes all other travelers and students who are required to obtain a visa.

According to a statement: “The government’s reconnecting plan will see all New Zealanders and key visa holders able to start to enter the country over the coming three months, assisting with the economic recovery and immediately address worker shortages.

“This is a very carefully developed plan that replaces managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) for the vast majority of travellers while ensuring we maintain ongoing measures to reduce the spread of Covid-19 in our community from recent arrivals.

“With 94% of our population fully vaccinated, and 92% of those over 18 now eligible for a booster by the end of February it’s time to shift gears in our Covid-19 response to focus on reconnection and recovery.

“By reducing the gap to get boosted to three months we’re ensuring we reach our highest possible boosted rates before fully reopening.”

By the time the border is reopened, New Zealand is projected to be one of the most vaccinated and boosted countries in the world, with a Covid-19 ‘protection framework’ in place to help manage outbreaks.

“Our plan has built in protections to help manage risks such as future variants,” the government added.

“A phased approach to reopening reduces the risk of a surge of cases, while prioritising the return of New Zealanders and much needed entry of skilled workers.

“Having MIQ for every traveller was a temporary setting for when none of us had protection.

“New Zealanders need to reconnect with one another. Families and friends need to reunite. Our businesses need skills to grow. Exporters need to travel to make new connections.”

Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, said: “Opening back up in this managed way balances inflows of travellers so people can reunite and fill our workforce shortages, while also ensuring our healthcare system can manage an increase in cases.”