Flights from Sydney to New Zealand will be suspended for 48 hours from 11.59pm on Thursday following the detection of two new community COVID-19 cases in Sydney.
The 48-hour trans-Tasman suspension will take effect from midnight on Thursday (NZST) and be “constantly reviewed” according to New Zealand’s COVID-19 Minister Chris Hipkins.
“We do need more information I think at this point,” Mr Hipkins said.
“We’ve weighed this up very carefully, it’s a finely balanced decision because we do acknowledge that this has the potential to disrupt people’s travel.”
The pause comes after a suspension of quarantine-free travel from Western Australia last week after a quarantine worker and his housemates tested positive to COVID-19.
In this case, a Sydney husband and wife have tested positive for the deadly virus – with health authorities unable to identify a “missing link” between them and hotel quarantine.
Around 6000 people who arrived in New Zealand from Sydney in the last six days will be contacted by the New Zealand National Contact Tracing team via email, and then over the phone, if required.
At this stage, flights from New Zealand to Sydney and vice versa are set to resume on Saturday 1159pm.
A swathe of COVID-19 restrictions have been reimposed across the Greater Sydney area as health authorities hunt for the “missing link” between a coronavirus-positive traveller in hotel quarantine and an infected Sydney man.
In Sydney, the Blue Mountains, the Central Coast and Illawarra, masks will be compulsory at all public indoor venues and on public transport from 5pm on Thursday while visitors in homes will be capped at 20.
Singing or dancing indoors is banned with an exception for weddings where numbers on the dancefloor will be limited to 20.
Drinkers in bars must be seated and just two visitors will be allowed for residents in aged care homes.
The restrictions will remain in place until at least Monday morning but Premier Gladys Berejiklian reiterated businesses should remain open over the Mother’s Day weekend.
“We know for sure that someone with the virus has been moving around the community and doesn’t know they have it and may have infected many other people … what we’re doing is a very precautionary response,” she said on Thursday.
“Unlike other premiers, we’re not shutting down the city.”
“If you’ve got a booking (this weekend), go to the booking, enjoy Mother’s Day, do what you would normally do,” Ms Berejiklian said.
On the issue of state border closures, she said: “We’re not shutting down anything in NSW, so other premiers shouldn’t even think about that.”