New Zealanders may be able to travel to some Australian states before Christmas, Ardern says

Source: Reuters Published: 2020/9/28 20:38:42

Travel between New Zealand and some states of Australia is possible before the end of 2020, New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern attends a press conference on Wednesday. She said on local Tuesday that authorities have found four cases of the coronavirus in one Auckland household from an unknown source. Auckland, the nation's largest city, would be moved to Alert Level 3 from midday Wednesday through midnight Friday, meaning people will be asked to stay at home. Photo: VCG

Plans for a travel "bubble" between Australia and New Zealand has been in discussions for months as both nations slowed the spread of the coronavirus, but they were disrupted after a resurgence of COVID-19 in Melbourne, Australia, followed by a second wave of infections in Auckland.

With the virus largely contained in New Zealand, and as cases continue to decline in Australian regions, talks of a travel bubble with some states have been revived.

When asked by state broadcaster TVNZ whether New Zealanders would be able to travel to at least some Australian regions before Christmas, Ardern said: "It is possible."

"What we would need to be assured of is that when Australia is saying 'okay we've got a hotspot over here' that the border around that hotspot means that people aren't able to travel into the states where we are engaging with in trans-Tasman travel," she said.

Ardern said Australia was pretty satisfied with both how New Zealand was tracking now and how they are tracking generally.

New Zealand has only 59 active cases and 1,477 confirmed cases of COVID-19 so far, one of the lowest tallies in the world.

Some media reports on Monday also said the travel may initially be just one way with New Zealanders heading to Australia, and may be restricted to just travelers from New Zealand's South Island.
Newspaper headline: NZ may lift ban to Aussie states before Christmas


Posted in: ASIA-PACIFIC

blog comments powered by Disqus