New Zealand has been closed to most people for much of the last two years in response to Covid. This has meant that citizens who had been out of the country at the time faced extreme difficulties in getting home. This also meant there have not been tourists allowed – and now New Zealand announces their opening strategy.
New Zealand Reopening After Covid Closure
Link: New Zealand Covid Reopening Plan
According to their 5 phased plan released today, New Zealanders currently in Australia (and vaccinated) will be able to return home as of February 27. New Zealanders in other countries around the world will be allowed to return home after March 13.
Gone is the requirement to be in a government managed quarantine facility but everyone entering New Zealand throughout their reopening plan will be required to self-isolate for 10 days. It is important to note that travelers who are not vaccinated will be required to continue quarantining at the government facilities known as MIQ (managed isolation and quarantine). These travelers will still need to be allowed to enter in order to travel to New Zealand.
This will obviously not be an issue for those that live in New Zealand or have family there. But for tourists? Here is when they will be allowed to enter (and yes, they will also be required to self-isolate for 10 days).
New Zealand will be allowing some skilled workers and certain temporary visitors (who are vaccinated) to start being able to visit after March 13 with up to 5,000 students being allowed entry as of April 12.
For everyone else, people traveling from visa-free countries will be able to start visiting New Zealand again by July and the doors to the rest of the world will open in October.
I imagine that the self-isolation rules could be open to change based on the data of earlier travelers in this new plan. By the time that tourists can enter, maybe it will be a smaller period or even be gone altogether. Either way, spending 10 days in a hotel should be something that tourists that want to visit New Zealand began to plan for if they want to enter in the early days.
Here is what New Zealand has to say about the self-isolation and testing protocol:
Self-isolation is only available for fully vaccinated travellers who are eligible to enter New Zealand.
Travellers will self-isolate for 10 days. If New Zealand’s self-isolation period changes, such as a drop to 7 days, the self-isolation period for travellers will also change.
Travellers will be provided three rapid antigen tests at the airport, one for use on day 0/1, and one for use on day 5/6, with one extra for backup.
Anyone who tests positive will need to take a PCR test at a Community Testing Centre or GP for whole genome sequencing in order to quickly identify and respond to new variants coming across the border.
Entering in the early days could be an interesting opportunity for tourists who have enjoyed hitting tourist hot spots during the last couple of years. It is common to find some of the most densely population tourist destinations completely empty due to Covid and the protocols that have accompanied it.
