Quarantine-free travel for Kiwis entering Australia has resumed, with health authorities happy that our friends across the Tasman have their coronavirus outbreak under control.
The bubble is back! (Again).
After being suspended earlier this month, the one-way quarantine-free travel bubble for New Zealanders entering Australia has now resumed.
The safe travel route was put on pause after the highly contagious South African strain of COVID-19 was detected in New Zealand, but the people of New Zealand now have the outbreak under control.
What’s the deal?
The change means that any New Zealanders wanting to enter Australia without quarantining will need a negative coronavirus test result less than 72 hours prior to departure if they have been in Auckland any time in a two-week period before travelling.
According to a report by the ABC, Australia’s Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly says that Kiwi travellers pose a “low risk” of bringing the COVID-19 virus to Australia.
Paul Kelly also said state and territory health officials met on Saturday and received a briefing from New Zealand officials.
What next?
Currently the travel bubble is one-way, meaning it only applies for New Zealanders entering Australia.
Last month, Jacinda Ardern said she remained optimistic about a two-way first-quarter trans-Tasman bubble, believing it is still possible.
She said that she would look to pursue state-by-state bubble arrangements if a whole-of-Australia approach was too difficult.
“What we want to make sure though is that when we enter into an arrangement, we don’t have a situation where we leave people stranded,”
New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern
The arrangements will be reviewed by the end of the month, so watch this space for more information.
Air New Zealand trials Digital Travel Pass
Air New Zealand has also announced that its customers and employees will be among the first to trial a digital initiative to get people moving safely across the globe again.
The airline’s customers will be able to create a digital health wallet linked to their e-passport. Once travellers have been tested and/or vaccinated, labs will securely send data to the individual’s app.
It then checks requirements for travel against the data and customers who meet those travel requirements will be given the green tick to travel.
The airline will trial the digital Travel Pass app developed by International Air Transport Association (IATA) on its Auckland-Sydney route in April.