Yesterday (August 12, 2021), Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern set out the plan at a forum on reconnecting New Zealanders to the world.
She set out changes to the rollout of the vaccine, including speeding up the first dose by allowing people of all eligible ages to book by September 1.
She also said there would be a trial later this year of home isolation or shorter MIQ stays for selected travellers. That would be followed by the phased resumption of quarantine-free travel in the future.
When it comes to businesses, our CEO Matt Cowley has received various calls and messages from local businesses sharing frustrations about their ability to travel overseas for business.
“The global economy is waking up and there is a fear that New Zealand businesses may get left behind if we don’t also have open borders,” he told the Bay of Plenty Times.
“Business travellers could be caught out if their return to home access is suddenly restricted.”
He says the announcement lacked a target to incentivise the community to improve vaccination levels.
“All this announcement has shown businesses is that the Government is thinking about re-opening our border.
“We eventually need to learn to live with Covid-19 if we want to re-start our tourism industry and allow Kiwis to travel freely ever again.”
You can read the full story here.
Reconnecting New Zealanders to the world: Next steps
The Government’s approach to reopen the borders is guided by five objectives:
- Maintaining our elimination strategy to stamp out the virus and keep our options open.
- Ensuring every eligible New Zealander is offered the opportunity to be vaccinated as soon as possible.
- Reducing the need for further lockdowns as much as possible by continuing to strengthen our health and contact tracing systems.
- Maintaining strong public health tools.
- Developing new ways to enable people to travel safely to and from New Zealand.
You can read a full breakdown of the rollout strategy here.
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